October 28, 2007
It is a beautiful Sunday morning here in South Africa. This morning I went to Atteridgville for church. It was great; the people there are really on fire for God.
As I said in my last blog I have been praying that God will give me a clear direction on where it is he wants me to serve in January. I struggled with this decision a lot.
I finally feel like God has given me a clear response. I feel led to serve in Kenya. Today we were told to write on a piece of paper what location we felt led to go to and that’s what I wrote. The last two days God has been speaking to me in different ways, telling me why I need to go there. I think my biggest conviction came this morning at church.
As most of you know, a huge passion of mine is singing. I especially have a passion for singing in a choir. Since I graduated in June and had to leave my high school choir days behind, I have truly missed it. I miss singing daily, and learning new and inspiring music, I miss performing and sharing the gift god gave me. God really convicted me this morning that I need to get back into it, the church we attended had a choir, and they performed for us this morning. My heart became so vibrant the second they opened their mouths. I felt god telling me that he wants me to use this passion in ministry. When we were told about the ministry in Kenya, most of it has to do with working in churches. This morning I heard god tell me to use this gift of music in a church in Kenya. So I am thinking if possible I want to organize a youth choir, or if the church I work at already has one, I will join theirs. Also in the past FYM’s have been apart of worship teams at various churches in Kenya so that is something I want to look into.
God has also given me the gift of being open and outgoing. I have been able to be bold in Christ, and really show people who I am because of him. I am not afraid to be and show whom Christ made me. I have noticed while being here, and actually looking back to my past that being confident in your identity and showing who God made you to be openly is hard for a lot of people at many stages of life. I felt God calling me out, saying that I need to teach people about there identity in Christ and that God wants you to be exactly who you are and not be afraid to show it.
Kenya is a nation hungry to hear the word of God. People are very open to hearing the gospel. I will have the chance to share with people and see fruit. I will be able to disciple people in their walk with Christ. I think I need that opportunity so I can be better at sharing and stepping out in faith.
Those are just a few reasons why I feel the Lord wants me to go to Kenya. If you have any question just ask.
November 1,2007
So today was the last day we all got to do ministry together. Tomorrow (FRIDAY) we are being split into out teams. Today was awesome, I went to the hospital. Brianna and I went to the cancer ward like usual. Usually we hang out with the 3 little girls. Brianna did that since it was her last day. But instead I went into the isolation room. I have some prayer requests for some of the patients and such.
There is a young boy named Sizwe. He has Leukemia and is very sick. His parents abandoned him. Please pray that he knows that God will never abandon him. Pray for healing, and that his immense pain will go away. Also that through the love we show him, pray that he will see Christ’s love too.
Also in the bed next to him I met a boy named Tusane (?) who also has cancer. His family is Jehovah’s Witness so they believe it is wrong to take blood or organ from other people. He needs a blood transfusion but his mom won’t let the doctors do it. Please pray that God could change her heart, that she can see what he needs and that it’s ok to do that.
As you all know Oct.31 is Halloween. Here at Alabanza we celebrated the cross. We wanted to show light on this day that is usually filled with tons of evil and darkness. It was great we all had some fun and made up some pretty sweet Bible costumes. I was the 10 plagues, I know that sounds scary. But it’s all good they were sent by God to teach the people. We had a party, we ate lots of sweets and junk food, played games, had a dance party. Afterwards we did fireworks and worship. It was a lot of fun.
We have been reflecting on the last 6 weeks since we have been here and I have realized that God has done so much. In me and to my teammates. I will expand on that in my next blog. Please keep me and South Africa in your prayers. I want to see God answer some more prayer.
November 2, 2007
Today we split up into our teams. I am on team KENYA! There are 15 of us on the team. I am going to need to be raising some more support to pay for my ticket to get there. Please be praying for me that God will provide for my teammates and I. I will give you more info. About Kenya and my team very soon. Please pray that we will all get the support we need to come back. And pray for the team as a whole because it is going to be very hard to leave the Swaziland team. They have become like family to us.
