Stories from Africa: Rural South Africa - Lessons learned

This will be my last post about my outreach to Rural South Africa.

It is always interesting a year after the fact to look back and see how something changed you or grew you in some way.

The Rural Outreach by far was the most physically challenging for me with three kids to take care of, ministry to accomplish and our first team to learn to live with and love. (Picture at Right - Trust in God Church in Mabarhule, South Africa)

I look back and really only remember that - "The Family" made it.
We survived for 17 days with all 5 of us in a tent. (Our tent was the one on the right side of the photo at left.)
We did ministry - and made an impact on the people around us.  Could we have done somethings better, or differently - yeah.  Was it hard, yes, was it fun, yes, was it interesting yes.  Would I do it again - yes!  Wow I don't know if I would have said that the day we left.

We left by the way on my 8th Wedding Anniversary - waiting for the base van to come pick us up.  We had all the tents and camp packed by 10 am and then proceeded to wait until 6 pm and the pitch black night before we got ourselves into the van for the 6 hour ride back!   That was a frustrating day.

Now almost an entire year later - I look back at that whole experience as such a time of growth, uncomfortable as it was - it really showed me that we could endure through anything.  Is that my ministry of choice?  I don't think so - I would rather live in a two bedroom cabin then a tent full time.  But cooking over a fire wasn't too bad - of course I did have a team to help carry the load.  Alone as a family might be a different story.

I am curious as I look into the future what I will see as the benefit of the waiting we are doing right now. The changes we are facing the new direction we are going and the ministry that seems to be waiting for us.

God is so interesting in how he challenges our perception of what he wants us to do with our lives.  How he calls us to obedience and then just asks us to trust Him through it all.

Are we willing to be sent?  If so are we willing to go where he calls us to go.

I am a planner by habit - I like to see my life stretched out before me and kind of have a good idea of how it will all play out.  I can change, but I don't really like change to happen to quickly and I like a bit of a warning.  God continually calls me to stop that planning to put my trust entirely on Him and if I can trust him here in comfy Aberdeen, South Dakota then I really should be able to trust him anywhere.  Out of comfort in Rural South Africa,  in comfort of the expected path of ministry, and "Oh," in the unexpected detours that will ultimately lead us to where He wants us to be in ministry.

So what does this have to do with Rural South Africa - As our first Outreach with our Mission Organization it taught me to go with the flow, stop trying to control everything in my family, depend on the team.  Team life isn't always easy - different people have perspectives on life that are in direct conflict with your own - even though they too love the Lord.  It was hard being the mom and I think for Tony being the dad - because we never got the down time that our teammates enjoyed.  Though they probably enjoyed less of that down time because we "The Family" were on their team.   I can honestly say that I don't think we would have made it without the team.  Not then, not under those circumstances.  We needed the team.   I guess I do hope they ended up needing us in some ways too.

I know they learned something - even if it was only how to change a diaper.

The Rubber Band of Faith - Ouch!

Do you ever have times when the amount of faith you have seems so small that it feels like a rubber band about to snap back at you at any moment?  I have those times.

Lately, I have those times a lot.

Raising support is about the hardest thing I've had to do.

I've been praying for God to release the funds for us to be able to go to our field assignment in Moldova, but I know that for whatever reason I have something to learn in this waiting.

The positive things from waiting have been complete dependency on God for everything, a lot of time spent together as a family, and as a couple.

The longer we wait the more we depend on God - when we first got back from South Africa we had a lot of people helping, feeling led to bring us food, we had people help buy our family Christmas presents, and giving us gift cards to the food store.  This is a very humbling place to be.  I was reminded by someone when I said - this is hard to not be the giver but to depend on others - that "The worker is worth their wage."  This is biblical but still hard - is this pride?  Probably.

Then I think, when I am giving out food baskets on the field - will I not understand more when someone doesn't want to take the food but does out of necessity?  I am sure this time of waiting will help me see their need from a more personal place.

God continues to give us just enough and every once in awhile surprise us with a gift.  I just got a free meal at a fast food restaurant  - which I decided to drive through out of speed and convenience not because, in all honesty, I should have or could afford to do so that day.  But God surprised me.  We ended up getting our food for free because their machine could not read the credit card or debit card I had.  It was their machine not my cards.  When they told me to just go get the food and I wouldn't be charged for it I was surprised and as I drove away I offered thanks to God.  He provided what he didn't even need to provide.

As a family we have spent more time all together then I can ever remember.   There are times when I look at my husband and have said, "Just go."  Not always in the nicest tone of voice.  Does that surprise any of you?   But for the most part we have realized how much of a family we are.  My husband truly is my best friend.  We share everything together and as we learn more about each other - trusting each other our relationship is deeper because of it.  This will most certainly help us on the field.

Our children are enjoying time with Daddy in a way that they wouldn't have if we had gone right onto the field.   We have through this last year and half learned more about each other's strengths and weaknesses.  We are learning more how to love each other and live together.  There is no way that this could be seen in the negative.

Then why do I say that I struggle with faith?  Sometimes I get caught up with how long something is taking to happen.  I truly believe that God is in control - but sometimes I think that if God is behind something there should be no waiting involved it should just happen.  There should be a time limit.  That if we really belong on the field then we should already be there.  I know that my husband has had at least one person say that if we were meant to be on the field we would already be there.  I struggle with that.  If that person is right - then why do we still feel so strongly that we are not to stay but to go.  If this is true then why does our house seem to stay rented.  As I pray and ask God where the rest of the support is to be found - why do we continue to feel that perseverance is what He is asking of us?

I am reminded of Abraham and Sarah as they waited for their promised son.  They knew what God had told them, they knew that God would be true to his word - they knew this.  Then why did their faith waiver?  Why did they struggle with how long it was taking?

God clearly - wanted them to know it was him doing it not them.

They tried to speed it up and go around the mountain in their way.  Sarah - like many women - felt that maybe it was her.  I know that many times even myself I see Sarah as a women who made a suggestion that was against God's plan.  She offered her handmaiden to her husband,  I say to her why - why are you doing this!

What do you think as a human, as a women, Sarah felt like.  Maybe she felt she was the problem.  She never could have children, in a culture where not having children was always the women's fault.  I am sure she felt desperate, she influenced her husband.  To remind you of this conversation here it is:

Genesis 16: 1-2 ESV

[16:1] Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. [2] And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

I wonder if there was more discussion on this - or did she say it and Abram was like - "Hot dog!"  Some how, I think there might have been a bit more dialogue about the whole thing.


So what does this all have to do with me?  I think this account shows a fundamental problem with being a sinful human.  We get in front of God.  We think we see all the answers, that we know best, that if God just gave it over to us and followed our lead that we could do it better than Him.

But going back to Sarah the moment her plan was put into action was probably when she first regretted it.


[3] So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. [4] And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. [5] And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!”
(Genesis 16:3-5 ESV)

Do you think that maybe Sarai - secretly hoped that she was forcing God's hand.  That She not Hagar would conceive and that God would be given the glory?  But God didn't do that, but his plan had not changed.


[Isaac's Birth Promised]
[15] And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. [16] I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” [17] Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” [18] And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” [19] God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. [20] As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. [21] But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
(Genesis 17:15-21 ESV)

13!

Thirteen more years passed - it says in Genesis 17:25 that Ishmael is 13 years old.  This story both encourages me and scared me.

I want to be on the field ASAP - but God's timing is the best timing.  I want to get in front of God and make it happen.  I know what I do in my own strength will not work.  God's hand must be in it!

I know on the field I will need to trust God's timing.  I know that this waiting period will make complete sense.  I know that God has put in us this desire to do his work overseas.  So many confirmations in our lives about this.  My conflict of faith always comes when I take my eyes off of God and His plan.  When the noise of the world and the voices of the people around me that want it to happen in a timely business manner.  When I get asked the questions:

"Your still here."  "When are you leaving?"  "When do you think you'll have a departure date?"

I would love to answer those questions with this answer:

"We leave next week."  What joy will be in that statement!

Just as Sarah finally held her baby boy - named laughter!

If I continue to trust in the promise that God gave us and trust that his timing is perfect my faith won't waiver.

Pray for me that I would continue to trust God's plan for my family.
That I will trust in God's perfect timing.  His - Will, Way, and Time.

Stories from Africa: Rural South Africa - Bucket Bath 101

Disclaimer: A Bucket wash really depends on each individual person.

Supplies: Bucket, shampoo, soap in soap container, wash cloth or scrub, cup and towel.

1.  If your a girl waring a skirt, which comes off over the head is very handy!  Also removing any undergarments before going to the "shower" makes changing in a wet and sandy "shower" a lot easier.

2.  Remove clothing

3.  Use wash cloth and/or cup to get all wet, make sure your hair is soaked.

4.  Wash hair - don't use too much shampoo.

5.  Wash your body.

6.  Splash water over body to remove soap doing hair first, be extra careful to not get any soap in the water.

7.  Leave a small amount of water to rinse sand out of the shower shoes.

8.  Get dressed by standing on shower shoes, slip on skirt and top put other clothes on in a dryer location. 

This was our shower on the Rural outreach and you can see our tent in the right corner. 

Devotional: Psalm 95

God and His sense of Hearing

How can we be a joyful noise?

Hebrews 13: 15-16 

Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.  Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

God and the sense of hearing

My parents are both Deaf, because of this I have always been very aware of my hearing.  Hearing is more than a sense when it comes to the word of God.  It is also something that comes from the heart, eyes and ears as well.  I could argue how the sense of taste and touch are also ways we hear God.  

A sacrifice of praise to God isn’t just a vocal utterance, but a state of being as well.  When we offer to God a heart set on worship - I believe He Hears it on a level that we can only imagine.  We don’t have to have beautiful voices set in harmony.  He hears the guttural utterance that we cry out in worship as well.  He hears the hands lifted up in silent worship as in the sign languages of the world.  They are all pleasing to Him.

What is a Joyful noise to god?

Often we think of worship as the time of singing that precedes a sermon in church.  Worship is a joyful noise to God!  In the Psalms we see lots of references to a joyful noise.

Psalms 95, 98, 100

Psalms 95: 1 - 7a

[Let Us Sing Songs of Praise]

[95:1] Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

  [2] Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

  [3] For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

  [4] In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

  [5] The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

[6] Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

  [7] For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

 (Psalm 95 ESV)

This Psalm covers a lot of ground.  

Is God worth of our worship?  Yes!  Why?

vs  3 - For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.

vs  4 - In his hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

vs  5 - The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 

vs  6 - Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Okay so what? 

How does that connect back to Christ?

vs 1 - Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Our Salvation comes from God through Christ Jesus.  In 1 Cor 10:4 the scriptures says ... “the Rock was Christ.”  The “Rock” is also a common OT name for God (eg. Deut 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31).  

vs 7 - For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 10:14-15  “I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

My response to this is what?

God hears our worship in whatever way it is uttered!  Hears it as we express it from within ourselves.  Worship is more than a song we sing.  It is an attitude of the heart, the mind and our innermost being. There is a lot of noise out there that isn’t joyful.  The noise of self condemnation, the noise of our children, of the dirty dishes and so much more.  We live in a noisy world where the goal seems to be to drown out the sound of God in our lives.  We focus on the worries in life.  The worries of when we will get to do this or that, or the worry about affording certain pleasures.  

What it comes down to is this.  God hears us - he cares about us, He knows our thoughts before they are expressed in our own mind.  That is pretty amazing. 

The word says that God knows the number of hairs that are on my head. Matthew 10: 30-31  But even the hairs of your head are numbered.  Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 

 If he knows even that about me how much more does he want me to worship Him.  He does not need our worship - He wants it.  

We all have needs in our life, but our wants give us the most joy.  

Think about it.  God WANTS to hear your worship!  Wow! let us go praise Him now!

Stories from Africa: The Long Drop -

Rural Out houses are called Long Drops:

I think because they are built up out of cement first of all they don't smell as bad as I would have thought.

Our Long Drop - Men's on left behind green curtain and women's on right

When we arrived I didn't have a problem with the long drops but the longer we stayed the more the bugs started to get to me.   When we first arrived the cockroaches stayed in their corners - Danree would shine her light at them and yell, "I hate you, I hate you."  We all got a good laugh from her bathroom antics but I didn't really have a problem until the one night when this big cockroach ran down the wall and under my right thigh.  I was trying to hurry and then the cockroach ran back out.  After that my thoughts of the Long Drop were slowly changing to dread.  I once shared at our nightly meetings how if it was my Long Drop I would paint it white, put up curtains and I would kill the bugs.  I would use lime or lye instead of the bugs and maggots.

My Long Drop

Now in our food trailer I saw this can of bug spray but no one had used it.  I wasn't sure why and I thought of using it many times.  Our last night there I decided that I wanted to kill the bugs.  At first I wasn't sure if the Pastors wife would want me to use it and so I wasn't sure if I should use it and then apologies or if I should ask permission first.  Then as we approached the Long Drop I realized that the Pastor's family was in the peanut garden picking peanuts so Wesley who was so excited about killing the cockroaches ran up and said - we are going to kill the Cockroaches.  I then asked permission - saying "We have a can of bug spray can I kill the bugs?"  She smiled and gave me a big green light to kill them.  So we went to the Long drop and set about to kill the cockroaches.

The next morning I approached the Long Drop with a bit of glee and when I saw the three big cockroaches dead on the ground I was quite happy.  I had Jaco get rid of them for me and I happily used the bug free Long Drop - wondering why I hadn't used that spray the first night.

Wesley and Irina both used the Long Drop without problems.