It is so cool the way God speaks to us and confirms things in our hearts. Last week I wrote about my inability to do all that I could dream here and the need for the people of Hawane CLC to go and reach their community. This week at church the pastor briefly mentioned Hebrews 11 and confirmed what I had written.
Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the faith chapter as it begins with a definition of faith and continues with descriptions of the faith of those that have come before. At the end, we are told that they didn’t receive what they had been promised, but God had something better:
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39-40)
Only together WITH US would they be made perfect!!! How amazing! Life is a story, not just of our own individual lives but all of our lives intertwined from the beginning of time. The great lives of faith that have gone before us are connected to us, because only together with us are they made perfect; and the same our lives are connected to those that come after us, because only together with them will we be made perfect!
As I am working here in southern Africa, I am honored to think that my meager work here is connected to the work of missionaries of the past such as David Livingstone. I am also greatly encouraged to know that even though I won’t see the things that God puts in my heart for this place, I will be made perfect through the work of those that come after me.
God has big plans for Swaziland, and He will use all that are willing to bring them about so that we can all fellowship in the joy of His Glory!!!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Cricket?
So I am currently checking to see who is still in the Cricket T20 World Cup. Yes, you read that right, I am checking in on cricket! Oh the craziness that pursues when you go to a foreign land! I watched my first cricket last Sunday night (England beat India) and actually enjoyed it. It is definitely more interesting than baseball, well at least the T20 is since it is a shorter faster game. No 3 day matches for me please, the last baseball game I went to that was 18 innings was more than enough of that for me, I couldn't imagine watching three full days. The T20 will be done in about the time of a football game though, and on Sunday it is the Championship. So here I am excited about cricket and the prospect of watching my first full game as the Championship.
Oh, and to celebrate we will be having a very inappropriate dinner of tacos and quesadillas! Do they even play cricket in Mexico?!?
Oh, and to celebrate we will be having a very inappropriate dinner of tacos and quesadillas! Do they even play cricket in Mexico?!?
Therefore Go
It is such a blessing to be here in Swaziland. I always love those moments in life when you look at where your life has come to and you have to ponder why God chose you to be so blessed and so fortunate. Any time I get to go to a new place, I feel like that. I have now been here for over a month and a half, and have partnered with some great ministries and met amazing men and women of God. During my time here, I have also seen so many areas that I would love to get involved with. There have been brief outlines of ministries that I would want to help start or serve, but then my time limit pops the thought bubble in my head. I only have 6 weeks left here, not enough time to get most of my projects done. I could very easily see myself plant down some roots in Swaziland and pour myself into this country and these people, but it is just not God’s calling for me at this time, and so I just dream.
Last Sunday morning’s church service at Hawane CLC was a bright light shining through the clouds of time that are limiting me. Pastor Augustine preached a wonderful message about going, challenging the congregation that they should go to their neighbors, families, and coworkers to share the Good News that they have received. At the end of the service, people came forward to make a commitment to God that they would go. I saw some of the teenagers from the homes at Hawane Farm go forward, and my eyes began to get wet. As I watched over 20 people walk forward, I had to worship God. He is so good. There, at the front of the church, where the men, women, and young adults that will follow through with not only my dreams for their country, but better yet their own. They will reach the people that I would never be able to reach, even if I remained here for the rest of my life.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." If He calls us to go to another nation to make disciples, we must follow His lead and go. We will be blessed for it. However, we must remember that much of the time He is calling us to make disciples in our own nation, in our own city, on our own streets. For this, we will also be blessed. As these Swazis go forth to their neighbors and the community of Hawane, preaching the Good News and helping the sick, poor, widows, and orphans, He will be with them and they will become more like Him. So to, as you go forth to your neighbors and your city, Christ will go with you and you will become more like Him.
Last Sunday morning’s church service at Hawane CLC was a bright light shining through the clouds of time that are limiting me. Pastor Augustine preached a wonderful message about going, challenging the congregation that they should go to their neighbors, families, and coworkers to share the Good News that they have received. At the end of the service, people came forward to make a commitment to God that they would go. I saw some of the teenagers from the homes at Hawane Farm go forward, and my eyes began to get wet. As I watched over 20 people walk forward, I had to worship God. He is so good. There, at the front of the church, where the men, women, and young adults that will follow through with not only my dreams for their country, but better yet their own. They will reach the people that I would never be able to reach, even if I remained here for the rest of my life.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." If He calls us to go to another nation to make disciples, we must follow His lead and go. We will be blessed for it. However, we must remember that much of the time He is calling us to make disciples in our own nation, in our own city, on our own streets. For this, we will also be blessed. As these Swazis go forth to their neighbors and the community of Hawane, preaching the Good News and helping the sick, poor, widows, and orphans, He will be with them and they will become more like Him. So to, as you go forth to your neighbors and your city, Christ will go with you and you will become more like Him.
Moving Mountains and Mole Hills
(Sorry, this is last weeks blog. It was just a busy week and I did not get it up!)
Well, it is officially the first cold day for me here at Hawane. Everyone else has been saying it is cold and calling it winter since I’ve been here, but it is just starting to feel like October and I am enjoying a nice night with my sweatshirt. A cold wind is blowing outside, but inside it is peaceful, quiet, and not too cold thanks to the thick cement walls. Lord, please protect the people out in the community who are not as blessed, huddled in their mud and stick homes as the wind sneaks through the cracks. Keep them warm in Your arms and let them rest in You.
I have to say that this week has been a good week, thanks to the prayers of many. Last Tuesday night, I arrived home to hear that one of the boys on the farm, Mncobi, was sick. They were getting ready to take him to the hospital, which is never a good sign when you have a nurse living on site. The nurse said that it could be meningitis, and I was sure she was right as I heard the symptoms: sudden onset fever, headache, and body pain. The prayer chain at the church in town had already been activated, and I quickly called Ohio to ask for prayers from the US. As the car was about to leave, I let Mncobi know that he had people in Ohio praying for him. He didn’t look good, and the usual smile that lights his face was gone. I was worried, but the prayers of many were heard! We never did find out what was wrong with Mncobi, all the tests were inconclusive and as quickly as his sickness came, it also went. By the time they were seen at the hospital, his fever that was pushing close to 104 on the farm was registering closer to 100. In the morning, he was feeling much better (well enough, I am told, to eat a few pieces of toast and a big omelet). This weekend, he was riding around the farm on his bike, the big smile back on his face.
Thank you for your prayers, both for Mncobi and for the entire Hawane community. You may never have the chance to come visit these homes and walk these paths, but you have the power to change lives and futures from right there in Ohio through your prayers. We sometimes forget how powerful our prayers can be, I know I do. It is hard enough to believe for the things before our eyes let alone across the ocean, but know that God is listening and waiting to move as you utter even the simplest of prayers. Mncobi’s health and this ministry are testimony to that.
Jesus said that if we have faith as a mustard seed we can tell a mountain to move from here to there and it will (Matthew 17:20). As if that isn’t enough, He goes on to say that nothing will be impossible for us. We can change the world, one prayer at a time, moving mountains and mole hills, and drawing closer to God each step of the way. May we all seek to have a faith as the mustard seed and the boldness to speak to the mountain and tell it to move!
Well, it is officially the first cold day for me here at Hawane. Everyone else has been saying it is cold and calling it winter since I’ve been here, but it is just starting to feel like October and I am enjoying a nice night with my sweatshirt. A cold wind is blowing outside, but inside it is peaceful, quiet, and not too cold thanks to the thick cement walls. Lord, please protect the people out in the community who are not as blessed, huddled in their mud and stick homes as the wind sneaks through the cracks. Keep them warm in Your arms and let them rest in You.
I have to say that this week has been a good week, thanks to the prayers of many. Last Tuesday night, I arrived home to hear that one of the boys on the farm, Mncobi, was sick. They were getting ready to take him to the hospital, which is never a good sign when you have a nurse living on site. The nurse said that it could be meningitis, and I was sure she was right as I heard the symptoms: sudden onset fever, headache, and body pain. The prayer chain at the church in town had already been activated, and I quickly called Ohio to ask for prayers from the US. As the car was about to leave, I let Mncobi know that he had people in Ohio praying for him. He didn’t look good, and the usual smile that lights his face was gone. I was worried, but the prayers of many were heard! We never did find out what was wrong with Mncobi, all the tests were inconclusive and as quickly as his sickness came, it also went. By the time they were seen at the hospital, his fever that was pushing close to 104 on the farm was registering closer to 100. In the morning, he was feeling much better (well enough, I am told, to eat a few pieces of toast and a big omelet). This weekend, he was riding around the farm on his bike, the big smile back on his face.
Thank you for your prayers, both for Mncobi and for the entire Hawane community. You may never have the chance to come visit these homes and walk these paths, but you have the power to change lives and futures from right there in Ohio through your prayers. We sometimes forget how powerful our prayers can be, I know I do. It is hard enough to believe for the things before our eyes let alone across the ocean, but know that God is listening and waiting to move as you utter even the simplest of prayers. Mncobi’s health and this ministry are testimony to that.
Jesus said that if we have faith as a mustard seed we can tell a mountain to move from here to there and it will (Matthew 17:20). As if that isn’t enough, He goes on to say that nothing will be impossible for us. We can change the world, one prayer at a time, moving mountains and mole hills, and drawing closer to God each step of the way. May we all seek to have a faith as the mustard seed and the boldness to speak to the mountain and tell it to move!
Monday, June 1, 2009
How can I come home?
I am sitting in the Mountain Inn in Mbabane just hanging out for the day enjoying some internet access. Last night was the youth overnight at Potter’s Wheel, so I got very little sleep but had fun. Today, I get to experience a very important cultural event here in southern Africa – the Bulls (South Africa) vs. the Chiefs (New Zealand) in a rugby championship. In the meantime, I decided to finally download my first month’s worth of photos from my memory card to my computer. As I am moving photos over, I keep catching glimpses of different children…smiling, laughing, making funny faces…and I find that my eyes are beginning to water. Each of the people I have met on my stay here thus far are so unique and they can light up a room in an instant with their smiles, hugs, and love. I still have two months left in Swaziland, but already my heart dreads having to leave and misses this place. I have to wonder, if this is how I feel now after only one month, how will I ever have the strength to come home?
This week I was reading in 2 Corinthians, and Paul’s words to the Corinthians rang so loudly in my heart. He said to them “you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together” (2 Corinthians 7:3). When I came to Swaziland, I really had only two desires: to be used by God however He could use me here, and to connect my heart with a people being devastated by HIV as I go forward to do HIV research. I am trying to be available to God, that the first may be true. The second one has already come to pass. A piece of this nation, these people, has been woven into my heart, and a piece of my heart will remain when I leave, so that as we both go forward we will be knit together, to live and to die.
Who has God knit into your heart? Who is He calling you to live with and die with? God has an amazing blessing for each of us to be a part of the joys and tribulations of others and they with us, so that together we can move forward in Him. It may not be a people in a far off nation or they could be right there in your home town; they could be the young or the old, of a certain ethnicity or a certain gender; you may see them daily or only hold them in your heart and your prayers. Whoever they are, your life will be richer for having them in it, and won’t be complete without them!
This week I was reading in 2 Corinthians, and Paul’s words to the Corinthians rang so loudly in my heart. He said to them “you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together” (2 Corinthians 7:3). When I came to Swaziland, I really had only two desires: to be used by God however He could use me here, and to connect my heart with a people being devastated by HIV as I go forward to do HIV research. I am trying to be available to God, that the first may be true. The second one has already come to pass. A piece of this nation, these people, has been woven into my heart, and a piece of my heart will remain when I leave, so that as we both go forward we will be knit together, to live and to die.
Who has God knit into your heart? Who is He calling you to live with and die with? God has an amazing blessing for each of us to be a part of the joys and tribulations of others and they with us, so that together we can move forward in Him. It may not be a people in a far off nation or they could be right there in your home town; they could be the young or the old, of a certain ethnicity or a certain gender; you may see them daily or only hold them in your heart and your prayers. Whoever they are, your life will be richer for having them in it, and won’t be complete without them!
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