A little entertainment for Alfie and Nondu
Mamelodi Camp...Lift Jesus Higher
Mamelodi Camp...Our translators singing I believe in Jesus
The next 2 are ladies from one of the communities that we did the medical clinic in. Watch the lady in the black hat and jacket on the right...she is crazy. If you get next to her when she's dancing you better watch out she will booty bump you!
A little Oh lay lay with Drew
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Unpacking
I landed on US soil Friday, the 29th. I have been "unpacking", processing and visiting friends. Its good but very weird to be back in the states. I have loved catching up with everyone and hearing what's new and what the Lord is doing in their lives. There are also a lot of hard things when you have come from a journey like this. A lot of people say why you were just gone for 3 months, but the Lord can do a lot in 3 months when He takes you away from all that is familiar. I will forever look back on this journey and see LIFE CHANGE.
On to the unpacking...what did I learn from this part of my journey?
-I learned that the Lord had to take me all the way out to Africa to restore my soul and self doubt. To quote Captivating "We cannot have intimacy with God or anyone else if we stay hidden and offer only who we think we ought to be or what we believe is wanted. God really does want you to know who you are. He wants you to be able to understand the story of your life, to know where you have come from, and to know where you are going."
-I learned about not living with an "agenda". I noticed that when I talk to people that I am always thinking about how they are perceiving what I am saying or I'm thinking about the next person I'm going to talk to or what I'm going to do next. Why can't I just sit there and really listen to that person and not worry about what is next. The person that is in front of me at that very moment is the most important person and nothing else matters, who cares if I miss something...the Lord has me in front of that person for His purpose at that very moment.
-Talking about agenda brings me to being on a journey. I am on a journey not constantly seeking the next thing. Journey brings trust in Him. If I am constantly thinking about what is next I miss that very thing right in front of me. Jesus knows our journey so is it really healthy to sit around and think about every next move? I even had my journey in Africa planned out before I left as to how I thought it would all go down. YEAH RIGHT. The Lord said yep you thought you were here just for the orphans...I'm going to put you in a house FULL of college girls and ROCK you. That He did...THANK YOU LORD. He knows me much better than I do :)
-I thought my gifting was in administration and the LORD broke me of that. I realized it was something I hid behind because I was scared to fully walk in my gifts. I know that seems strange why would you be scared of that...but I struggle with fear, fear of letting people down, of not being who I thought I was. I was broken of that daily. There is so much freedom found in that breaking.
-I found it very hard to be in worship this Sunday. I have seen the Lord first hand change lives and heal people. How can we not jump up and down excited about singing about our Jesus? It made me fear that people around me were sitting in a place of comfort because like me they feared in stepping out to be who Jesus is truly calling them to be. I never realized what a box and small story I lived in until I got outside of myself.
-It is a daily struggle for me to think about buying a car, getting a job and finding a place to live. Not because those things aren't good but I fear of walking back into my smaller story. I don't want this next journey to be about me, I want it to be about finding the identity that my Jesus has created for me. I feel like my story is very different and I don't want to settle for less. So my constant prayer is that I am continuing to hear Him amongst the noise and distractions of the states.
-I feel very called to minister to college age girls. That is when they are going through change, forming their identity outside of their parents and high school friends, and when they start to learn who they are created to be. I want to see college girls really start to find their giftings and to walk in them. Just think if they could recognize the God given authority that they have...talk about impacting the world!
There you go. These things that I learned in Africa are still things that I am learning. I covet your prayers...please continue to pray that I would continue to listen among the noise of the typical life of an American. Its not that I am coming down on America, well maybe I am :), but I just desire to continue to live outside of who I am supposed to be. I have experienced life change and I do not want to go back. I don't know what is next. I have applied for a job sort of working with college students. Honestly its a little hard for me to sit here in the states right now, so maybe an opportunity will come for me to go out again. If you have suggestions I welcome them.
Thank you for your support of my time over there. I hope to upload videos soon. I posted some albums on Facebook, here are the links:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010505&l=364c3&id=1005090795
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010478&l=b7a16&id=1005090795
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010482&l=cec57&id=1005090795
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010485&l=c1ae3&id=1005090795
On to the unpacking...what did I learn from this part of my journey?
-I learned that the Lord had to take me all the way out to Africa to restore my soul and self doubt. To quote Captivating "We cannot have intimacy with God or anyone else if we stay hidden and offer only who we think we ought to be or what we believe is wanted. God really does want you to know who you are. He wants you to be able to understand the story of your life, to know where you have come from, and to know where you are going."
-I learned about not living with an "agenda". I noticed that when I talk to people that I am always thinking about how they are perceiving what I am saying or I'm thinking about the next person I'm going to talk to or what I'm going to do next. Why can't I just sit there and really listen to that person and not worry about what is next. The person that is in front of me at that very moment is the most important person and nothing else matters, who cares if I miss something...the Lord has me in front of that person for His purpose at that very moment.
-Talking about agenda brings me to being on a journey. I am on a journey not constantly seeking the next thing. Journey brings trust in Him. If I am constantly thinking about what is next I miss that very thing right in front of me. Jesus knows our journey so is it really healthy to sit around and think about every next move? I even had my journey in Africa planned out before I left as to how I thought it would all go down. YEAH RIGHT. The Lord said yep you thought you were here just for the orphans...I'm going to put you in a house FULL of college girls and ROCK you. That He did...THANK YOU LORD. He knows me much better than I do :)
-I thought my gifting was in administration and the LORD broke me of that. I realized it was something I hid behind because I was scared to fully walk in my gifts. I know that seems strange why would you be scared of that...but I struggle with fear, fear of letting people down, of not being who I thought I was. I was broken of that daily. There is so much freedom found in that breaking.
-I found it very hard to be in worship this Sunday. I have seen the Lord first hand change lives and heal people. How can we not jump up and down excited about singing about our Jesus? It made me fear that people around me were sitting in a place of comfort because like me they feared in stepping out to be who Jesus is truly calling them to be. I never realized what a box and small story I lived in until I got outside of myself.
-It is a daily struggle for me to think about buying a car, getting a job and finding a place to live. Not because those things aren't good but I fear of walking back into my smaller story. I don't want this next journey to be about me, I want it to be about finding the identity that my Jesus has created for me. I feel like my story is very different and I don't want to settle for less. So my constant prayer is that I am continuing to hear Him amongst the noise and distractions of the states.
-I feel very called to minister to college age girls. That is when they are going through change, forming their identity outside of their parents and high school friends, and when they start to learn who they are created to be. I want to see college girls really start to find their giftings and to walk in them. Just think if they could recognize the God given authority that they have...talk about impacting the world!
There you go. These things that I learned in Africa are still things that I am learning. I covet your prayers...please continue to pray that I would continue to listen among the noise of the typical life of an American. Its not that I am coming down on America, well maybe I am :), but I just desire to continue to live outside of who I am supposed to be. I have experienced life change and I do not want to go back. I don't know what is next. I have applied for a job sort of working with college students. Honestly its a little hard for me to sit here in the states right now, so maybe an opportunity will come for me to go out again. If you have suggestions I welcome them.
Thank you for your support of my time over there. I hope to upload videos soon. I posted some albums on Facebook, here are the links:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010505&l=364c3&id=1005090795
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010478&l=b7a16&id=1005090795
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010482&l=cec57&id=1005090795
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010485&l=c1ae3&id=1005090795
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Medical Team
So the medical team from Brookhills was with us last week. They were aaamazing. It was a mixture of young and older, just pretty much any stage of like over like 21 that you could think of. This made for a really great team. The devil was aware of this great team and was already scheming from the day they arrived. They came in on a Saturday night and one of the guys that works at the place I am staying was driving a lot of their luggage separately in his truck. Well he was on the road home and a car bumped him. So Hugo pulled over and got hit over the head with a gun and thrown in the back of his truck. He had been gone for quite some time and was not answering his phone so we were worried and praying by now. Then the guys stopped the truck and threw him out the back, he then proceeded to walk home. They stole his truck and all the luggage in the back, which was pretty much everyones personal luggage. Thankfully it was a medical team that we had there and they stitched his head up.
This did not stop the team. We were so thankful Hugo was alive after that. Then I ended up getting sick with a sinus infection or something almost all week. I did not get to go out with them until Mon. and then I was out for two days, then back out on Thursday and Friday. I was so disappointed, but so thankful that I finally got well enough to go out with them. The impact that a medical team can have is unbelievable. I mean I saw a baby come in that probably would have been dead the next day and they gave it an IV and brought her back to life. I heard doctors sharing the gospel with their patients. I was just amazed and thankful to be a part of it!
Here are some pics from the week:
This did not stop the team. We were so thankful Hugo was alive after that. Then I ended up getting sick with a sinus infection or something almost all week. I did not get to go out with them until Mon. and then I was out for two days, then back out on Thursday and Friday. I was so disappointed, but so thankful that I finally got well enough to go out with them. The impact that a medical team can have is unbelievable. I mean I saw a baby come in that probably would have been dead the next day and they gave it an IV and brought her back to life. I heard doctors sharing the gospel with their patients. I was just amazed and thankful to be a part of it!
Here are some pics from the week:
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Still alive...
I apologize I have not been on the internet in forever. We have been sort of recovering from camp. We finished camp about two weeks ago and then had another group come in for two weeks just to do mission work around the area. All of the interns that I lived and worked with have all gone home now. So I am here getting ready for a medical team that we have coming in a little over a week. Then I will have a little over a week and return to the states on the 28th.
One quick story from our last week of camp. We had this kid that came and clearly had something wrong with this waste area and was quite smaller than the kids his age. This did not stop him. He was the most precious kid I have ever seen and just lived life not worried about his disability. His leader found out about mid week that the name he was given meant 'waste'. His leader knew that he had to give him a new name and tell him that Jesus did not think of him this way. So he sat with translators to figure out a new name for him, and they came up with a name that meant 'joy'. This kid also accepted Christ that day, it was the most beautiful picture of Christs love I have ever seen. Here is a pic of him and his leader:
I have learned so much about myself while being here. The Lord has really put a place in my heart for college age girls so I am just processing what that looks like right now. I am exploring job options and such for after August. So please continue to pray with me as I look into what is next. One day at a time...
cheers to liquifruit...
One quick story from our last week of camp. We had this kid that came and clearly had something wrong with this waste area and was quite smaller than the kids his age. This did not stop him. He was the most precious kid I have ever seen and just lived life not worried about his disability. His leader found out about mid week that the name he was given meant 'waste'. His leader knew that he had to give him a new name and tell him that Jesus did not think of him this way. So he sat with translators to figure out a new name for him, and they came up with a name that meant 'joy'. This kid also accepted Christ that day, it was the most beautiful picture of Christs love I have ever seen. Here is a pic of him and his leader:
I have learned so much about myself while being here. The Lord has really put a place in my heart for college age girls so I am just processing what that looks like right now. I am exploring job options and such for after August. So please continue to pray with me as I look into what is next. One day at a time...
cheers to liquifruit...
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Lately...
I apologize for the lack of posts. Getting the internet during camp time is quite challenging. We are now in our second and last week of camp. Last week was great. We had about 500 kids in a very poor township named Mamelodi. That is where I did camp last year so I was some what familiar with it. One interesting thing is that we have to have translators at this camp and we ended up getting a lot of them from a local high school. There were some that where not saved, so there they are translating the stories and the Lord really started working in some of their hearts. So not only was it for the kids, we really saw the Lord move in the translators lives, really cool.
This week we are in a nice school, we meet in an auditorium, we have power. Very different from last week. This week a lot of the kids know the story of salvation and almost all speak English. So this is more of a discipleship opportunity.
We have had really great teams come in to help with the camps. Last week we had a group from Savannah come, and they were amazing, Josh Hawk their leader and Audra do a great job with them. They were perfect for the Mamelodi camp. We also had a small group from Brookhills of girls around 26 and one girl come on her own...shout out Mak!
This week we have one from Brookhills, one from Dallas, a group from Hueytown, and a father and daughter from Texas. Love this group as well, they have been a lot of fun to serve with.
I'm learning a lot about myself. I have realized that a lot of times I have just said that administration was my gifting but have never been completely happy or secure in it. One day this past week it was like that is not necessarily my gifting but maybe more so what I hide behind because I am afraid of the unknown. Anyway I'm very thankful to be aware of that and just continuing to learn who the Lord has made and is making me to be.
Its amazing how the Lord knows exactly what you need when you need it. I was so thankful to have a small group of girls come from my home church and they were all around my age! The crazy thing is I had never met any of them, what in the world. I do not know what the Lord is calling me to after this but I am thankful to have those girls in the Ham. The Lord continues to restore me while I'm here and they were just such a breath of fresh air. So shout out to my BHAM girls!
here are some from camp
This week we are in a nice school, we meet in an auditorium, we have power. Very different from last week. This week a lot of the kids know the story of salvation and almost all speak English. So this is more of a discipleship opportunity.
We have had really great teams come in to help with the camps. Last week we had a group from Savannah come, and they were amazing, Josh Hawk their leader and Audra do a great job with them. They were perfect for the Mamelodi camp. We also had a small group from Brookhills of girls around 26 and one girl come on her own...shout out Mak!
This week we have one from Brookhills, one from Dallas, a group from Hueytown, and a father and daughter from Texas. Love this group as well, they have been a lot of fun to serve with.
I'm learning a lot about myself. I have realized that a lot of times I have just said that administration was my gifting but have never been completely happy or secure in it. One day this past week it was like that is not necessarily my gifting but maybe more so what I hide behind because I am afraid of the unknown. Anyway I'm very thankful to be aware of that and just continuing to learn who the Lord has made and is making me to be.
Its amazing how the Lord knows exactly what you need when you need it. I was so thankful to have a small group of girls come from my home church and they were all around my age! The crazy thing is I had never met any of them, what in the world. I do not know what the Lord is calling me to after this but I am thankful to have those girls in the Ham. The Lord continues to restore me while I'm here and they were just such a breath of fresh air. So shout out to my BHAM girls!
here are some from camp
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Camp Time...
Hey guys, hopefully I will have more pics of where we are living and such. It is freeeezing here. I can see my breath when I wake up in the morning lieing in my bed...I'm sure you thought Africa was supposed to be hot. It is winter here, its great during the day though just like Spring. Our first team comes in today so we are excited to welcome them and welcome their help :). The Foxworthy's from Brookhills have been here this week and have been a joy to be with.
We start camp on Monday and are expecting around 400 kids, we have about 40 translators there as most of the kids will speak a couple different languages. So please pray for communication, healing ( a lot of people on our team are sick), and that the LORD multiplies our resources and the kids come to know the love of our LORD.
Here is a pic of us in the back of the blue bullet with camp supplies, and yes we road the whole way with hula hoops around us...we got some looks
We start camp on Monday and are expecting around 400 kids, we have about 40 translators there as most of the kids will speak a couple different languages. So please pray for communication, healing ( a lot of people on our team are sick), and that the LORD multiplies our resources and the kids come to know the love of our LORD.
Here is a pic of us in the back of the blue bullet with camp supplies, and yes we road the whole way with hula hoops around us...we got some looks
Saturday, June 21, 2008
I live with a famous kid...
This is Alfie, this missionaries adopted son. He really is famous. Every place we go people will pick him up and hold him and they don't even know him...I promise its EVERYWHERE. Then we went to a restaurant that cooks pizza and they let him cook his own in the kitchen, I look over and Alfman is just hanging out with the cooks. On the plane from Cape Town to Pretoria the girl that was doing the announcing at the end of the flight told him to be good at school the next day. Its histerical, he could make friends with the wall.
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