What You've Been Waiting For!

(I love the village!)

(We took one of the children from the center snorkeling and he loved it!)

(Everybody loves a haircut that costs 25 cents!)

(Crazy kids! Can you see why I love them?)

(Serious rock climbing in Mozambique...ha!)

(No personal space here! We were a big, happy Christian family of 25!)

(Didn't want to say goodbye...)

(Where's Waldo, I mean Wendel? The children went crazy when we arrived in their village...we felt famous)

(a beautiful new friend on outreach)

(Antonio's family)

Home Sweet South African Home...

(It's true! It's true!)

Well, I spent almost a month on my own along the east coast in two different places: Knysna and Plettenburg Bay, and now I am back with the Salyer family in Capetown. I have gotten accepted to attend YWAM, a Christian organization where I will be attending discipleship classes for three months, and then ministering in different places in South Africa. This program will run mid April through September. I will be located in on of the biggest townships (urban areas established by black Africans after the apartheid in which many live in shacks and lower income housing), living in a facility that houses HIV babies. There will be many opportunities to be involved in the community as well, such as afterschool programs, tutoring, working with the law enforcement, elderly, etc. I am really excited to get a more “hands-on” structured experience in urban Africa, as it’s been my heart to see many cultures unite and empower them in the name of Jesus Christ. I know it will challenge me to step out and use my gifts, so that I can see God move through me. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and dig into Kingdom work again! Yippee!

Standing Firm on God's Promises

(A sign of God's faithfulness as we arrived at our first village on outreach)

As for being on my own, (riding for 8 hours on a bus, sleeping in a tent, discovering the city, walking along the beach, eating, etc.), it was an experience, and I encourage everyone to do it. You’ll discover many aspects about yourself and how to handle situations on your own. Doing ministry with other Christians is relatively easy compared to doing it on your own, at least in my case. For example, Jesus sent his disciples out two by two, giving them authority over the unclean spirits (Mark 6:7). In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Solomon says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! And if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?” My answer to the last part as I experienced these weeks was crawling deep into my sleeping bag, relying on my own breath as body heat…:) There’s a reason why two are better than one at times.
It was challenging to spend all this time alone with God. You have more decisions to make, time on your hands, and meal times aren’t as exciting. But, despite all this, God really created many spiritual light bulbs to go off in my head from reading the Bible. This was definitely a new thing for me!
For example, Ecclesiastes really spoke a lot to me about the seasons in life, and how life is meaningless without God. On my own, every day felt mundane-- even reading the Word at times. I wasn’t having deep spiritual conversations with my friends, praying with people, doing ministry, etc. It was just me in the midst of other travelers who were not interested in God. They were treating themselves to every type of adrenaline sport possible--skydiving, paragliding, swimming with sharks, abseiling, scuba diving, surfing, etc, like Solomon in Eccles. 2. I didn’t want to judge their behavior since I, myself, have risked my life in some of these things (remember me freaking out in the sky?).
And I also know these things are a gift from God (Eccles. 3:13). But, I couldn’t help but think that when it was all over, and the high has been achieved, what were they going to find true fulfillment in? I was frustrated with myself because I kept asking God, “Why do I feel so lonely and discontent when I have you, and these people seem more happy? Am I jealous because they get to do these things, even though I am in a different season in my life? Why do I want to be like them when I know the truth?” I think many of us ask these questions and then feel bad because we feel like we fail God by not making Him first in our life. After all, it is a whole different ball game when you don’t have the company of other Christians backing you up! And God did make humans to fulfill the need of companionship (Gen. 2:18). So where is the balance?
During this time, I came to the conclusion for me that I have to focus on how much I am truly embracing and depending on God’s promises and His character. My relationship with Him has to be first, it has to stand alone. No matter what happens in life, I need to have the faith to believe He will never leave me nor forsake me. Whether I have people in our life or not, I need to believe beyond my physical senses and emotions that nothing can separate me from His love (Rom. 9:35-39). There’s a line in a popular song by Hillsong that really encourages me when I feel alone—“I sing because the world can’t take away Your love.” Above everything else, We need to have stronger faith in God’s unconditional love more than anything that’s tangible or felt emotionally. We lose our senses (physical and common,ha, ha!) as we get older, and our feelings change one minute to the next, but God’s love is constant –it’s our unshakable foundation from which everything in life is build upon. Since God is jealous for our love in return, whether through voluntary or involuntary experiences, He will at times stretch us to see how strong our love for Him is. He doesn’t want to be second to anyone or anything.

Trust me, I know this isn’t any easy concept to grasp; every day I am challenged by it. It humbled me to look like I didn’t have any plans or friends. The honest answer to “why are you traveling alone?” was an open door for persecution, and I learned to accept the uncomfortable silence after my reply. But through these examples, little by little, God is strengthening my faith. My deepest desire is to become more confident in being a “child of God,” rather than a “child of amazing worldly accomplishments and experiences.” A little backwards to human thinking, but look at what Jesus taught and how He lived out the Sermon on the Mount. That’s a child of God!

Have You Bathed Lately?

(Fresh mangos! What a sweet fragrance!)

God often uses natural items to speak to me supernaturally. The next few blogs aren’t necessarily about ministry experiences, but more of revelation that God gave to me as I was able to still myself and take in His Word. My prayer is that it will touch someone who reads them.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians 2:14.
When you travel to different places, everything is new…The sights obviously, but for some reason, God awakened my sense of smell when I went for walks around the city. When I realized this, I began to pray that God would teach me something through them and the scripture I found above. Here are some of those thought and prayers from my journal…
Yesterday as I was walking, I became aware of many fragrances around me, especially the flower bushes. As I proceeded to walk by them, I stopped, and turned around to drink in the pleasant aroma. I began to realize that I wanted to be like this flower bush, living such a fragrant life, that people would take notice of the glory of the Lord within me. I began to think about my fragrance, and at that time, I definitely needed a shower from sweating…hmmm…not so delightful, even for myself.  I found myself asking, God, is this my attitude towards other people that aren’t like me? Am I being judgmental towards the backpackers? I didn’t have to wait long for answer to come to my spirit. Yeah, honestly, I wasn’t being very loving. So I started praying that God would bathe and refresh me in the sweet fragrance of His Holy Spirit, so that through me, the knowledge of Him would spread everywhere, not just in church or in my circle of friends. We all have good and bad fragrance days…Some days we take a shower, and some days we just stink. When we are walking in the Spirit, our “shoots are spreading out, and His beauty is like the olive, and his fragrance is like Lebanon” (Hos. 14:6).
Most of us know how to live a fragrant life--being washed in the Word, soaked in prayer and worship, refreshed by the company of other Christians, pouring out the love of God through loving acts, etc. 1 Cor. 15:58 says, “Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.” We need the grace to do this. Thankfully, in 2 Cor. 9:8, it says, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” The rest of 2 Cor. 9 lists the benefits for doing the Lord’s work, not only for you, but for the receiver as well. They include: 1) God will increase the harvest of your righteousness (vs. 10), 2) You will be enriched in every way through your generosity (vs. 11), 3) It will produce an overflow of thanksgiving to God by the receiver (vs. 11), 3) The receiver will glorify God because of your submission from confessing the gospel (vs. 13), 4) The receiver will long for you (vs. 14), 5) The receiver will pray for you (vs. 15). I agree with Paul in vs. 15 when he says, “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!” Mainly, our fragrances will encourage others to ask questions about our relationship with God, in hopes of creating a harvest of righteous disciples.
So think about this. What are some of your favorite scents? Why? Mine are the salty crispness from the sea, the rich aroma of a strong cup of coffee, the sweetness in the air as I walk past a fruit stand, and the mouth watering scent of homemade chocolate chip cookies coming from the oven. I like them for two reasons: 1) they remind me to thank the Creator because “every good gift and perfect gift is from above coming from the Father” (Jam. 1:17), and 2) so that others will “give glory to our Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Enlarge the Place of My Tent, Lord!

(Mirranda and I celebrating her salvation)

(Gepke and I on Outreach in Mozambique)

When I was on my own, I found that it was easy to get into my own world; I hardly spoke to people or went out of my way for them. I got caught up seeing my new surrroundings from a different perspecitive, which caused a lot of feelings to arise in me. In the past, I would try to numb them, forget about them, or basically feel really sad. But I didn’t want to do that this time. I wanted to tell God about how I was feeling, and as I did, I realized God was beginning to answer a prayer that I have had since October. This prayer has been Isaiah 54, particularly verse 2. I actually took the time to understand what it personally meant to me one day, and God really opened my eyes! Let me share with you…
I have been asking God to “Enlarge the place of my tent.” In the Old Testament, the tent referred to the place that God’s presence dwelt before they had the Holy Spirit. So what does this mean for my life now? Well, I am asking God to make more room in my spirit for Him to live. It’s almost like spring-cleaning for me, if I actually did that :) I have been asking God to make my heart bigger, so that I can love more people well. Rather than walk past the hurting, turning away from the pain around me, I am praying that God will help me to naturally care more. He’s showing me in order to do that, I need to get rid of the spider webs--my negative ways of judging, criticizing, feeling inadequate, jealousy, hopelessness, etc. Isaiah 57: 14-15, 21 says, “build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way…I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite…there is no peace for the wicked.” In two other places in the Bible, contrite spirits are looked after by God and acceptable sacrifices to God. To me a broken, contrite spirit is to be desired. This means, God will usually use our circumstances to train us to grow in this area of character, just like muscles need gradual strengthening and building up. The mission school in Mozambique really helped in this arena, because I feel like I have a firmer foundation of WHO I am and WHOSE I am. I know this sounds like a simple truth, but we need to be reminded of this because this world has ways of making us “forget.”
It’s funny how literal God can be when He wants to teach you His Word. Before I left for traveling on my own, I felt like I should buy to tent to save on accommodation. So I bought a cheap tent that was supposed to fit two people, which would be perfect for me to sleep and to put my stuff. However, when I set it up to see if it would work, I quickly discovered it was way too small. I took up the whole tent, with barely any room for my backpack. I was unhappy, thinking how it was going to be absolutely uncomfortable to sleep, move, and live in this thing. So I took it back and got another two person tent that was larger. It was perfect! I could spread out and relax! I even had plenty of room to write in my journal and read the Bible without feeling claustrophobic. I was able to focus on Jesus, rather than the discomforts around me. And when I began to focus on God and His truth, He gave me more compassion for the people around me. For example, in the first time town I went to, I met a girl named Mirranda, who gave her life to Jesus. At first, I judged her, but I began to see her heart (as God does). We became friends, and I invited her to have a “girls night out” where I was staying. My new “tent” had plenty of room for her!
The rest of verse 2 also spoke to me a lot, so take some time to read it. I trust God will also give you some deep insight!