Dinner...Yum.

     Mr. Gary brought home a duiker the other night and the girls impressed me with their slaughtering skills. Real women slaughter wild animals in record time. I semi participated, so I guess that makes me half of a real woman. Dad, you would be proud of the African skills I am picking up.

Rally claimed the liver before they were even done devouring it. LOVE these girls.

Afternoons On The Compound

     One of the many avenues By Provision uses to share the gospel and create a safe environment for children is having a community pool. Everyday, despite the fact that the pool water is freezing this time of year, dozens of kids line the gate waiting to swim. On Friday, (I know I am behind on blogging but time with these kiddos is just too good to pass up) I got to play lifeguard and spend the entire afternoon just loving on kids that desperately need Jesus. Nothing brings me more joy! The majority of the children are from an orphanage three blocks away so this wonderful treat is just what they need. I have been blown away with all the opportunities God has given me to just pour His Word into them..just sitting by the pool and chatting. 

A For Africa

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,

   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;

    his understanding is unsearchable.  

He gives power to the faint,

   and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

   and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

   they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

   they shall walk and not faint.

     I have been fighting off the funk the past few days but it woke me up this morning..and I think it won. I refuse to let my days here be wasted in bed. All my vitamins and antibiotics are in my other suitcase, go figure! That means lots of water, especially the Living kind! (Yes, I just used a cheesy biblical reference!)

     Not to be a complete Debbie downer...I met the girls yesterday, and it was WONDERFUL! God is already breaking down barriers. Robert Scott (Scott and Tori's oldest) told one of the girls that he was baptized on Sunday and she came to me and asked why he waited till he was older to be baptized instead of getting sprinkled as a baby like they have always known and done..I was able to explain that we believe baptism is a public profession to the church and the whole world that we have put our faith in Christ and made Him the Lord of our lives. That the Bible teaches that baptism comes after salvation, to show a decision that we have made in our own lives, not one our parents or denomination made for us! I know, hardcore theology day ONE! God doesn't wait around to share His good news..and we shouldn't either!

May God Be Glorified In Our Coffee Dates..

     After seemingly forever in the car, seeing nothing but bushes and dirt (and a few animals here and there), we finally made it to Tsumeb. During our journey here, I was debriefed on the situation with each of the girls living on the hostage and arrived feeling slightly overwhelmed. There is so much need, and I am insufficient, but one thing I know is true, the God of the universe conquered sin and death and can most definitely draw these girls to Himself and radically transform their lives. He is where my hope is found. The set up is a little different than I had previously anticipated but I am all the more excited for what God has in store. I had originally planned to spend a set time with all the girls as a whole during the week. Teaching "life skills" and simply pouring into their lives, but because of extra afternoon classes to help bring up the girls grades, I will not be given that specific time. Instead, I will be working around their schedules and investing in two to three girls at a time. Basically, lunch or coffee dates (which are my favorite, anyway)! The desperate need for positive attention and care was expressed to me and even though I hate that those have been areas of neglect in the girls lives I am super excited, hopefully I am pretty good at being a friend by now! 

Please pray as these relationships begin to develop. May God be glorified in our coffee dates!

He is Enough

    Three flights down… an overnight layover in “JoBurg” (Poppa, thanks for the correction, wouldn’t want to miss out on the happenin’ lingo), one more flight, and a six hour long truck ride to go.  So far so good though, I couldn’t be more thrilled that this day has come (or really yesterday because we skipped right over a whole night).  My luggage barely, and I mean barely made the weight limit. I am lugging some beauty products and random art supplies in my purse but all is well, just might need a chiropractor, or spinal surgery, no biggie.. Call me a baby, call me  what you will but I am slightly nervous about the separation from my family and friends. I would like to say I am completely independent and can do it all on my own but reality is, I can’t. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a loner, of course I need “my time” every once in a while but I really don’t like being alone. Especially considering I just came from National Convention, a week of continual communion with like-minded believers and great friends. It reminds me of the longing Paul had to be with the church in a lot of his New Testament letters. He knew that the Spirit would lead him to far away places for the sake of the gospel and he desired to be obedient but that didn’t mean his heart didn’t long for the fellowship and encouragement that came from being with those he shared life with (I pray for the Johnson family as this becomes a reality, long term, in their lives… and thank Jesus for their obedience). With that said, Tori reminded me of something extremely simple but eternally wise on the subject and I am comforted with this, “He is enough!” Though this world is passing away, the Word of the Lord remains forever! That is worth sharing alright! 

Fill Us Up, And Send Us Out

My brother, mentor, best friend, and motivator leaves on Tuesday for over 2 months in Northern India. I am missing his departure by one day but will be in constant prayer on his behalf. Please join me in praying for God's great name to be made known in and though Tyler's life. I have full confidence that the area he is ministering in will be radically transformed with the gospel, no doubt.

A little more info on Tyler's trip and specific ways to pray from the man himself:

Hey everyone! I am writing to you all out of a large burden that has been placed on my heart as I prepare to join God in His work throughout South Asia. Through much prayer, petition, and discerning of the will of God, I felt his hand guiding me to join a Mid-term mission trip opportunity through my home church, Brook Hills. Through a partnership with our contacts on the field, a good friend of mine and I will be spending this coming summer establishing gospel contact with Urdu-speaking, Muslim people groups who are completely unreached with the good news of Christ's salvation. We have been prayerfully preparing, and God-willing we will leave on the 24th of May to arrive home on the first of August. After an initial week of training we will be hiking throughout very mountainous regions to track down these groups to obtain information about their needs, their travel patterns, and assess the spiritual landscape. From these encounters will spring direct forms of evangelism (such as the Jesus Film) and also a cultivation of Christ-like, servant-hearted relationships that will point people to the Father. We will be working alongside indigenous believers as well as other international workers in a supplementary role to the amazing work already being done among the entire region. 

I write this to you from a profound sense of helplessness at this pivotal moment in my preparation to leave. I look into the Canaan of this humanly impossible task and I see the fruit, the harvest waiting to be reaped. Yet the need is great, and the forces of darkness have strong holds on these people created in God's image. The spiritual warfare that even now wages in the heavenly places for the souls of the lost is cosmically vast and incomprehensibly powerful. To wage war with any earthly weapon or human wisdom would spell disaster. The task is compounded not only by my human weakness but my own lack of sanctifying holiness. I have sensed more deeply the need to cling to Christ and his sin bearing, record of debt removing crucifixion. I need the piercing sword of the Spirit to cut away all that is not the truth. I feel like I have so much “cultural residue” in my thinking that I mistake for Biblical gospel, and I need the eyes of my heart enlightened. Praise God he brings the dead to life and things into existence which do not exist! That he calls the weak, lowly, the things that are not, to bring to shame the things that are!

So Beloved, I am asking for your prayers. Some of you may know a lot about myself and my situation. Some of you may not know me very well at all. Yet I have seen how the intercessions of God’s people have broken down the gates of hell and unleashed the power of God’s Spirit to bring in the harvest. I write not to exalt my trip or this work as anything special, but in vulnerability recognize our team’s need for help. Even if just once you pray while reading this for the Spirit of the Lord to move in South Asia, you will have played a vital part. I am not asking for money or applause or pity or anything else. I am asking the church of God to allow Him to do what he has promised to do if we ask. And if we do not stop asking, He will never stop giving.

Pray:

“That God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak” (Col 4:3-4)

“That words may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6:19-20)

That in the midst of trial and persecution we would “finish the course” (Hebrews 12:1-3, Acts 20:24, 2 Tim 4:6-8)

That we “would not be slothful in zeal” during the long and arduous work but “serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11)

That we would “be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might” amidst spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10).

That we would “be eager to maintain the unity of the Sprit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3)

That eternal urgency would permeate our work (Luke 4:43, John 10:16, 1 Cor 9:16)

That love would be the aim of our work (1 Tim 1:5)

That veils would be removed from hearts and the glory of God in Christ would shine (2 Cor 4:4-6)

That these people would rejoice in God, as they were created to do (Psalm 67, 96, Rom 5:1-2, Rev 5:9-10, 7:9-17)

That these Muslims might experience the power of the Holy Spirit and the sacrificial love of Jesus (Luke 4:17-21, Mark 10:45, Romans 5:8)

That God would get great glory in South Asia this summer and for all time (Isaiah 25:6-9, Isaiah 60, John 12:27-28, Romans 1:5, Eph 3:20-21)

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” (Romans 16:25-27)

MOTIVATION

     "They (the church in Rome) knew that God had superexalted Jesus, enthroning him at his right hand and bestowing upon him the highest rank, in order that every tongue should confess his lordship. They longed that Jesus should receive the honor due his name. This longing is not a dream but a certainty. At the bottom of all our hope, when everything else has given way, we stand on this great reality: the everlasting, all-sufficient God is infinitely, unwaveringly, and eternally committed to the glory of his great and holy name. For the sake of his fame among all nations he will act. His name will not be profaned for ever. The mission of the church will be victorious. He will vindicate his people and his cause in all the earth."

-Let The Nations Be Glad, John Piper