Hello once again! This week has caused for some changes in my schedule and plans with computer time. We are seeing, as a team, the comfort it is to Skype with family and see familiar faces. The truth is, we only have 8 days left on campus! Crazy! I feel like we just got here, just started building friendships, and just got acquainted with the food J I will only be using a hour a week now on Tuesday nights for the last three weeks to assure I am fully here in South Africa for the short time I have left. On Sunday nights we have been watching a sermon series called “Let the Nations be Glad” by John Piper. Through these sermons and seeing the needs for the good news around it has charged our team to make any changes or adjustments with how we spend our last weeks is South Africa. On Sunday we were thinking with ten days left what if each set of ministry partners would share with four new people each day that would make 400 new people hearing about what Jesus has done for us and them on the cross and the chance for them to come into fellowship with the Lord of Lords and the King of all Kings. Romans 10:14-16 is being played out right in front of us. “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” The Good News being preached in Johannesburg could have the effect on the whole country, then to the whole continent where the Gospel isn’t welcomed in most of northern Africa and potentially if men and women caught the true heart of God…the world.
This week has been hard with women at Sunny Side studying or actually taking their exams. Many live within 30 minutes of here and have gone home to study more effectively there. Pray that our hearts will stay burdened for the women we may not see consistently and we will respect their need to study. On a personal note, I have been soaking up the Gospel of Mark and loving (at times) our summer read of Humility. Jesus is so committed to his disciples even in their ignorance and pride he loves them and me despite character flaws and short comings. I want to understand this commitment God has for my character and my holiness, overall, becoming more life his son Jesus. Commitment scares be simply because I have been hurt time and time again by man whether it was in friendships or relationships before I was in Christ. I struggle in this area because I haven’t allowed the Gospel, the good news, which Jesus died for the lack of faithfulness or commitment in my life and all the lives around me. Even better, he rose again so that I may know he defeated that area of my life! There is no sin, no struggle that Christ did not die for. I had a one on one today with Kyle Wallace who is leading our team and doing an excellent job at it. During our meeting he was gentle and wise in showing evidence of grace in my life, but also was gracious in showing me an area I have not allowed the Gospel to penetrate. Wally, as we call him, could see through my struggle of having a dominating spirit and idle of control, the truth behind my hard exterior. He could see that I was afraid of getting hurt, trusting God, and ultimately having all hope only in God. This is something I am aware of, but I was not seeing that how the Gospel needed to heal the deep hurts I have from past relationships and even false vows I made to myself as I got hurt. How sweet is it to know that Jesus paid for all of this, all of my junk, my past and my future hurts? There is nothing that Christ did not pay for in my life… nothing!
Pray for character growth in having a gentle spirit. Pray that my hope will be in God and not how well I “protect” my image or reputation because the truth is that I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)
I miss home which reflects that even when I get back to Liberty, Indiana I will not be Home. I hope for my future Home, where Jesus will wipe away every tear and there will be no more pain or suffering. Truly until I die my physical death I will be home sick for heaven, my true Home.
Genesis 31:49
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