I have not been very good about sharing my stories through my blog in the past month or so. Two weeks of being sick, Easter and several South African holidays, and then the devastating fire in Masi has taken a toll on my amount of blogging. BUT I am making a commitment to blog more frequently; to share my daily life, the little happenings, funny stories, revelations, pictures. My heart for this blog is to bring my amazing family, friends and community along with me on this journey. So here we go!
update from the fire:
Jehovah Jireh. God provides.
We are still receiving donation after donation for the Masi fire victims. Food parcels, clothes, boxes and boxes of brand new shoes, furniture, mattresses, pots and pans, dishes, and building material... lots and lots of building material! We received a phone call that 12 truckloads of building materials were being donated to Masi from the sets of DENZEL WASHINGTON'S new movie that was being filmed in South Africa!
God has prepared a HARVEST among the people in the Wetlands who were in the fire. He is not only wanting to rebuild and restore shacks and possessions to his people, but he is wanting to rebuild and restore hearts and lives! He is preparing his people to be transformed by HIS love, goodness and grace. He longs for a people whose lives are built on the Rock, who will not be shaken. People who will rise above the ashes and walk in the glorious future he dreams of for them! God is faithful.
let faith arise.
it is easy to fall into routine. to get caught up in business. It is easy to forget to take time to stop and really dream. this past week, a fresh measure of faith has been rising up in my heart. I am made for the impossible. to see Light dawn in the hardest, darkest places. there has been a stirring in my heart to live for these things wholeheartedly! To press into the Father's great love and to dream with him without limit!
I have recently started meeting with a family full of drunkards. I was sitting with them at 2:00 in the afternoon the other day as they proceeded to drink one glass of alcohol after another. They are looking at me and telling me all the terrible things that happen when they are drunk. One tells me her boyfriend beats her. The mama, who is a half hearted witch doctor, tells me that she got the cast on her arm because a man kicked her when they were fighting over alcohol. One of the women is skin and bones, and is very ill. They tell me they want to quit living like this...as they pour another drink. It would be easy to think they are just a lost cause. to throw in the towel and find another family to spend time with. But I feel the Father whispering, "Stay. My love is always greater than the darkness." I am believing for the miraculous. I am believing for life and freedom for this family! Let faith arise!
story of the week.
A fixture in my week has been my run-ins with Maria. Everyone knew Maria as being "crazy." She was often drunk or high from drugs, and she would say she was schizophrenic. Maria would often come up to just about anyone and begin telling them about her life and about the abuse she has experienced from her previous husbands, family members, her neighbors...just about anyone. She would talk about how she has no money and that she sometimes sells her body for money. Several weeks in a row Maria would show up at the shack where me Nosipo (the amazing girl I spoke about in a previous post) were meeting. Each time, after pouring her heart out once again, me and Nosipo would minister to her, speaking truth and praying for her. It seemed a bit hopeless, but I truly believed that the Father had more for her.
Two weeks ago Maria comes up to my car. She looks beautiful. There is a brightness in her eyes that I had never seen. She tells me that she has meet Jesus. I really could not believe my eyes. She tells me about how Nceba (a friend of mine who was in my CPx class) prayed for. She tells me that when he prayed something happened inside of her. She says that it is as if her mind suddenly became clear. He told her to quit drinking and drugs. So she did. She has been sober for three weeks now. She has been meeting with a group of women that meets on Thursdays. I am in complete awe as she tells story after story of the miracles that are happening in her life daily. She has experienced the love and power of Jesus and it is completely transforming her life! Even her friends who are also trapped in a life of alcohol and prostitution are seeing the transformation. They are asking her "what is different?!" They are telling her "we want what you have!" And she tells them, "Its Jesus." He really is enough! The power of his love is real. And I have seen it in Maria.
a few pics for you to enjoy!
beach day last month with some of my favorite kids. i am missing those warm beach days now that it is nearing winter here!
I LOVE spending time with these funny girls. They are always singing and laughing!
Sunrise breakfast with friends on Easter morning! 
Suretha, a friend from CPx last year, got married last month! So fun to attend a South African wedding. It was all in Afrikaans, but luckily we had George (on the left) who could translate for us :) with Love,
whit
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