Alone with God? Yikes!

Well, Torstein is ready for his new adventure heading to the country of Lesotho tomorrow, so I will be traveling alone for a bit, unless God directs me elsewhere...I feel that it's a good thing for my soul and a fear I need to face. I guess I am looking forward to it, kind of! God has always provided me with amazing people in my life wherever I go, so I am not worried. So if you can, please pray for direction in my life...I am condemplating sticking around CapeTown for a bit, as I do know some people here. The family we have been staying with just had a newborn, their 4th child under the age of 5 (like the Bauers almost!). So they do need help, but I really just want what God wants. I love spending time with the township kids on the beach or just chilling with the people on the streets. However, if God wants me to spend it with Him so that I can get to know him better, than that's what I want more. I want to be open to whatever season He has for my life right now: clarity, clarity, clarity! :) Thanks so much you guys...I love you!

Praying For a Happy Reunion

I wanted to tell you a bit about Bananee, the 11-year-old Tor and I met in the Company Gardens with Joe. We found him sleeping, and when the security guard woke him up, he noticed us talking like "Americans" and asked us for money. I had made chocolate chip "biscuits" for this reason and to hand out to them, so I gave him one, and Tor asked him halfheartedy if he wanted his coffee. Wouldn't you know, he did! So we talked to him for a bit and managed to get out of him that he and his brother have been living on the streets for 3 years, but still stay in contact with his mom. His dad got killed in some fight and his mom had a new boyfriend that drank a lot and abused him, so they left the township (a place that looks like a bunch of tiny, tiny shacks close together, like a ghetto). We asked him if he would like to go back home, and he said yes. We asked him why he didn't, and he didn't really reply. He changed the subject and asked us if we wanted to go to the South African museum because it had giant animals. Tor and I hadn't been to it yet, so we took him and it was sooo fun! He lit up at the giant whale skeleton and we sat listening to whale sounds in the whale booth. When we got out of the museum, he was in a hurry to get to the currency exchange so he could exhange his Euros he had received on the street the night before. He asked us if he would see us again and we said probably. We gave him hugs and reminded him Jesus loved him. I have to admit, he stole my heart! :)

The next morning we saw him again sleeping on the lawn, but when we woke him up, he wanted to sleep. One more time when we tried, he was too tired to go eat, so Tor and I left him sleep. This last weeked I went away with some girls, so Tor stayed in town and did ministry alone. He hung out with Joe, and had an amazing conversation about "turning the other cheek" with an old boss who owed him a lot of money (I mean, wow, what a heart...the guy's homeless and needs the money!). Tor also met up with Bananee and his brother. He found out his mom was no longer with the boyfriend, so Tor bought him bus tickets to go home and saw them off....so cool! I pray that the reunion was like in Luke with the prodigal son and that his mom welcomes them with open arms!

Like a Watered Garden

"If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." Isaiah 58:10-11.

Torstein and I have been staying on LongStreet in a couple of different hostels. LongStreet is like the strip in downtown Las Vegas, although on a small scale. It's mostly filled with young adults into the hardcore drinking and clubbing scene, street kids, homeless people, and potential muggers...It's not the safest place in Capetown, but it definitely has many opportunities to hang out, love on, and pray with the "down and out" people.

One of our favorite places to go nearby is the Company Gardens that is filled with all kinds of people: tourists, business people, couples, school kids on field trips, security guards, vendors, but mostly homeless people sleeping on the grass from being up all night. Tor and I usually go there to read or pray because it is really quiet and peaceful. Last week we came across a guy named Joe, an ex-drug addict who has been living on the streets for 3 years. He noticed we were Christians and came over to talk to us about what happens when we die. Apparently, some Johovah Witnesses had been arguing with him previously, and he refused to believe what they were saying, and he wanted our opinion. Though this encounter we learned much about his faith in God. He also told us that just the night before he had been stabbed on the street and robbed of the little personal items he had, including his Bible. A bit discouraged, but he explained to us the story of Job and how he believed God would restore everything to him (Job 42:10). He asked for our email addresses to stay in contact with us, but we were so touched by his faith that we promised him we would come back to visit him, eager to hear more about his story.

So over the next couple of days, God put it on our heart to get Joe a new Bible, a small burgundy one with a ribbon bookmark. We wrote Jeremiah 29:11 on the inside and that God's presence would always be with him. We found him sleeping in the gardens, and Bananee (an 11 year old street kid making his "living" begging on Longsteet at night, whom I will write about him next) woke him up for us. The look on his face was priceless...He was overjoyed by our company and the fulfillment of our promise. When we presented his gift to him, he had the hugest smile on his face. He said, "This is better than any amount of money. Lots of people talk shit, but you guys, wow...I knew God would give me everything back. I am going to take care of this and treasure this. " And he really, really meant it. We held hands with him, praying that God would provide a job, and the presence of God was sweet. It's moments like this that I live for.

Continuing on with the Journey

Hey everyone! I am so excited to have a blog now! My traveling buddy Torstein from Norway showed me how to do this making it easier to voluntarily read and comment on what's going on in my "African" life. I won't send long mass emails to all of you and you can definitely share this site with others if they are interested and would like to pray for me. I will even be able to load pictures here, so that you will be able to put a face to the stories of people that God is touching! How cool is that?? I love easy accessible internet cafes! Be blessed!

Update since January 8, 2007:
I have been officially done with mission school and out of the "bush" for almost 3 weeks now, and I have to admit, I went through some culture shock. I gave the South African mother where I was staying at a big hug after being allowed to thoroughly clean my clothes in her washer and dryer! It was such a blessing! That was in Johannessburg for a couple of days, and now I have traveled to the bottom tip of Africa to Cape Town.

God has been leading me to apply what I have learned in Mozambique. (James 1:25-But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.) This is God's promise that I have been experiencing many times since I have been here, as I am learning to step out of my comfort zone and enter into "His uncomfortable zone." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18-For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.) I am learning it's worth being afflicted in my "fear of what man will think" only for a moment, compared to the fruitful results from obeying God!