South Africa Outreach - Week 10 Summary

Well, here ends our South Africa outreach. We left Kona 10 weeks and a few days ago and now we’re heading back to the other side of the world…literally! I am going to take the longest flight of my life…from Joberg to Atlanta is 17.5 hours (an additional 2 hours from on the way here)! I’m praying for a window seat or a whole row to myself to stretch out for such a long flight =)

Week 10’s focus was on debrief. Whew. All I can say is debriefing was exhausting! We had three and a half full days of debrief, including a questionnaire, discussions, remembering all the details of ministry we did, affirming one another and working on a presentation to show to our classmates and staff once we’re back in Kona. My emotions were all over the place this week as I remembered the good and the hard parts of this outreach. I really have had to press in to the Lord, wanting to finish well. What an experience!

We have a wonderful praise report when it comes to Shane’s head! By Monday or Tuesday of this week, all the head pain, blurry vision and dizziness was GONE!!!! Completely gone! We know from past head injuries that this is supernaturally quick in the area of healing for Shane’s head! Shane dealt with post-concussion symptoms for 6 months last time and now it was less than 2 weeks of symptoms! God is so good!

People from 9 different countries were praying for Shane and we are so thankful and touched. The countries included Canada, USA, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Finland! How awesome is that?!

Other random details from week 10:

- The pastor from the church we worked with here had our team over to his house for a wonderful evening of LOTS of South African food and great fellowship! I asked him if he bonds the same way with every team that works with them and we were so honored to find out that we were the first team of many to be invited to his house for a thank-you dinner. Wow! God really set that one up! What an honor and a blessing!

- Our team had a surprise visit from our ministry coordinator at our first location. That was really nice of Fola to come and say good-bye!

- We had an evening discussing our book reviews from our last required reading for DTS. Again, I really enjoyed Going Public With The Gospel! Now, I’m hoping to finish The Bait of Satan; Living Free From the Deadly Trap of Offense today so that I can read Why Not Women? on the airplane!

- We surprised the team with one last team outing on Wednesday evening for supper! All we told them was to be ready at 6pm and look normal-nice =) We took them to Ocean Basket for seafood, right on the shore of the ocean! We saw the sunset from our table on the patio of the dock. It was a fun and special team time to end with!

Well, that’s a wrap of 10 weeks of outreach in South Africa. Tomorrow we fly back to Kona and spend 6 days debriefing before heading home to Winnipeg. It’s going to be a crazy 80 degree difference in temperature between South Africa and Winnipeg! Wow!

I have mixed feelings about going home. I’m ready to leave South Africa, but not quite ready to go home yet. That’s why Kona is a great stepping stone in between! I’m definitely ready to go to Kona and see the other teams and debrief and relax together for a few days.

Good-bye South Africa! You and your people are so beautiful! I will miss you!

South Africa Outreach - Week 9 Summary

It’s hard to believe that we only have 1 week left in South Africa and then we’re back in Kona for debrief already! Also, in 2 weeks today, we’ll be back in Winnipeg! Wow!

Week 9’s focus was on prayer. Because our DTS is a Call2All specific DTS, as I’ve written about before, we cover 7 themes in our outreach. Prayer is one of them and for our prayer week, we are required to do a 72 hour prayer watch. It’s pretty intense because each student signs up for 12 hours a day in the prayer room for 3 consecutive days! Yikes! That’s more prayer room time than I’ve ever done consecutively and in a different format than I’ve done it before (boiler room style mostly).

The time in the prayer room this week was really good! It started on Monday at 8am and we finished on Thursday at 8am. I had the 3-9 shift, both ams and pms. I was a little nervous about the 3am-9am slot, because I remember from my years of night shifts as a nurse that 3-6am are always the hardest hours of the night. I made that statement before everyone signed up for their hours….maybe that’s way I got those hours =) Well, indeed those we’re my favorite hours of the day =)

God gave us so much grace for this week of prayer. He met me throughout my time in the prayer room, speaking to me through the Word, the music on my IPOD (I LOVED listening to old Limited Editions from IHOP), prayer, at the piano and in my dreams in the few hours I slept. I had the pleasure of doing worship at the piano from 5-6am two nights in a row! It was the same hour I led back in the day during our few nightwatch sessions with Sanctuary =) It was really special and I love those night hours (though I wouldn’t want to do them regularly!).

In the midst of the week of prayer, there was a lot going on with Shane’s head. No more trips to the doctor, which was good but things were really rough for him for the week following the bump on the head. The symptoms were so intense and it was hard for us to see these reminders of past head injuries returning =(

On Monday, two women from the area, who we got connected with from the cook in the kitchen, came and prayed for Shane for healing. It was a very interesting experience and I was definitely out of my comfort zone! They ministered well prophetically and prophesied very accurate stuff over Shane and I to begin. The healing prayer time was very interesting, as I already said, but I’m grateful for their willingness to go through all the trouble to come and pray. Shane’s dizziness got a little worse after that, but the headaches began to slowly get better immediately! Now, the head pain is gone! Dizziness is still a bit of a problem and he’s not overly steady on his feet but it is improving slowly. Please continue to pray for Shane’s head, that all the symptoms would be gone in Jesus’ name!

A blessing that happened on Monday was that we got a new room! Our old room was great and we had a ton of space and really liked it. We got a knock on the door on Monday afternoon and our host asked if we’d be willing to move because they needed to accommodate more people. We said sure and it was a nice trade off! We down graded to a smaller space, but it is nicer! They moved us into their guest rooms in the main building. We even have a “Do Not Disturb” sign like I mentioned last post =) I actually used it over the day hours when I was sleeping after the prayer night shift! We have a nice bathroom (though it has been having shower-related troubles) and we have special bedding, lamps, side tables, a little fridge, a fan and an arm chair! Wow baby! We even have nice blinds and drapes that came in SUPER handy while sleeping in the day from the prayer time because we could make this room much darker than the other! What a blessing for my Shane’s head recovery days this week and my daytime sleeping this week! God gave us such a blessing. It definitely is super nice for outreach accommodations but I think it is a kiss from the Lord at the end of an intense time. We started out wanting this time to be consecrated to the Lord during our seventh year of marriage so what a nice way to finish our outreach! So special! The only downside is we have guests….many ants and a few mosquitoes. But, I’d take ants over sand fleas any day!

As for the sand flea update, all the meticulous laundering paid off and they did not follow us from Muizenberg! I’m so happy about that! The bumps are still on my body weeks later and they are still itchy from time to time, but I’m not getting bitten by them any more. I turned them in for some mosquito and ant bites, but that is WAY better! A bummer about Africa is definitely the bugs =) I’m hoping those silly fleas don’t give me scars!

Other random details from week 9:

- I made a bunch of phone calls to the hospital and insurance company to figure out sending in our claim. It’s now sent and I hope we get full reimbursement for the trip to the ER and the CT Scan! Praise report – we got $1500 of the $4000 Rand reimbursed from the hospital!

- We had a spontaneous dance party to the Joy cd in the prayer room during corporate hour on Monday! So fun!

- I led some worship by guitar on Tuesday morning’s corporate session.

- We spent Thursday and Friday resting to recuperate from the 72 hour prayer watch and Shane’s head trouble. The rest of the team went to a wedding on Thursday but we rested at the base.

- I had my wonderful 1 on 1s this week and they were lovely, as usual! That is my favorite part of discipling!

- We enjoyed the benefits of the pool here on campus twice this week, during our rest days. It has been so wonderful because it’s been extra hot these past few days! So different than the temperatures back home right now!

- We had a team family fun day on Saturday and got to go to the Aquarium! It was really neat! Then we walked around a big mall at Waterfront in Cape Town!

- I’m in the middle of reading More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell and starting Why Not Women? By Loren Cunningham and David Hamilton. Shane just finished Why Not Women? and said it’s awesome!

My other highlight of this week, and today actually, is that I got to preach a sermon at a local church this morning on our last official day of ministry in South Africa! What an honor and privilege! It was so much fun! God gave me a big download in the prayer room this week. I started writing pages and pages for a sermon. Then I got the opportunity to use this within days! So neat! My sermon was titled “Love is Our Purpose” and it went so well! I felt great up there, really enjoyed sharing with the people and wasn’t nervous which was surprising! I usually say “Ummm” a lot when I’m nervous and I was really hoping not to do that…and I didn’t! Woo! Hoo! At the end of the service, the pastor shook my hand and told me he really enjoyed my message and “Keep on preaching”! I’m encouraged to jump further into my calling! On top of that, I did an altar call and found out from my team who was the ministry team that 2 of the people who came up for prayer gave their lives to Jesus this morning! 2 salvations! What a wonderful kiss from the Lord on our last day of ministry! I also enjoyed hearing Shane give his testimony this morning!

Week 10 begins in the morning and we're jumping into debrief before heading back to Kona! I'll try to update week 10 before we leave on Saturday!

South Africa Outreach - Week 8 Summary

We are here in Somerset West and staying on a student campus called Pneumatix. This place is gorgeous with a country feel, lots of grass and an amazing view. The mountains surround Somerset West and the surrounding towns are in the valley and up along the mountainside. To our right, you can still see part of the ocean. The view screams of the beauty of God’s creation! As a girl who loves the country, this place is such a gift for our last location on outreach.

I am incredibly happy to report how thankful I am to have a room and a BATHROOM that I only have to share with Shane! I am super grateful to have our own beautiful room and a bathroom and shower to ourselves! Things I would normally take for granted as a married woman are now a delight and blessing! Sometimes I’m tempted to put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on our door just to have more privacy, but that would be wrong =)

This week of ministry started out slowly as we had to find new contacts to work with here. The first contact ended up not working out so we were wondering what this week would hold. I wasn’t concerned. I felt the peace of the Lord and have been jealous for more quiet time with the Lord and this location facilitates that well! Monday and Tuesday included working out the details for ministry this week. In the meantime, we spent two afternoons on the beach though not doing what you usually do there. Monday afternoon we went to the beach as a team to have some personal quiet time with the Lord to ask what He wanted to say about the next 3 weeks at a new location. It was like the two beach/God times we had as a class back in Kona. I loved those mornings! The second afternoon, it was filled with beach evangelism! The team even did one of our dramas on the beach for bystanders as Shane, Angie and I had a meeting at a local church to work out some ministry for the week.

Well, the meeting was quick, smooth and fruitful and out of it, we gained wonderful partners at a local church who hope to work with future Call2All teams! On Wednesday, we joined some women from a local church on home visits for HIV patients in their community. What an honor to go into the homes of these women and talk to them, listen to them and pray for them. We also got to share the Gospel with one lady who answered that she did not know Jesus. At the end when I asked her if she wanted to make a decision for Jesus today, she said that she wasn’t prepared to yet. I pray that the seed we planted falls on fertile soil and that she makes a decision for Jesus. In the afternoon, we did a program for the children who normally come for an After-school Homework Program. We pulled out our songs, games, skits and such from our weeks doing VBS in Worcester. They came in handy again! We ended a fun ministry day with a praise service with 800 youth at a local church! We enjoyed some wonderful singing and dancing with the people who gave us a friendly welcome! We were the only Caucasian people I saw in the whole building. I definitely felt like the minority, which I haven’t noticed very much. Even when we were walking through Red Hill and the only white people there, I didn’t even notice. For some reason, it seemed really obvious to me at this church. I don’t know what that was all about!

On Thursday, we had the honor of joining in with the HIV/AIDS Support Group at the local church. It was a special time to connect with some of the patients. We split into 2 groups and shared and prayed for one another. It was really special as 2 people in our group rededicated their lives to the Lord! We also got to pray for healing for all 4 of the patients in our group! God is a God of miracles! Do it Lord!

The downer of Thursday and on wards was that Shane had a rough time with his head =( On the way to ministry on Thursday, we hit a large bump in the road and Shane and Allison were in the back seat. They hit their heads REALLY hard on the roof of the car and were nauseous, dizzy and had head, neck and spine pain =( With Shane’s history with head injuries, this was NOT good. We missed afternoon ministry with the children’s program as Shane rested and I watched him (concussion-wise). By Friday morning, we decided to go to the ER just to make sure. Shane had a CT scan that came back normal which we were very thankful for! The ER doc was a Christian and actually lives here on campus which was such a blessing for my comfort level of health care in a foreign country =) With being a nurse, I’m already skeptical at times with health care providers in my own country, never mind in another one! The head saga continued for the rest of week 8 unfortunately and most of the focus for Friday through Sunday was on the recovery of Shane’s head situation.

I did go out on Saturday morning for ministry and it was so enjoyable! We participated at the church in the monthly HIV Screening Clinic. I offered to help the nurse and told her I was a nurse back home. So, I got to do the testing with her! It made things go double speed because there were two nurses doing the poking and testing! I’m very thankful to report that all our patients were negative, except a known positive patient who got retested. I was really hoping that he would be healed after we prayed for him at the support group. We tested a total of 36 patients that morning. It was so fun to bless people in a nursing role again! I really enjoy helping and serving people in that way! A funny note is that just the day before, while sitting in the ER, I leaned over to Shane and said that I didn’t miss work at all. But, I sure had fun and got life out of being back in that role the next day =)

The next day, on Sunday morning, we participated in the church service at the church we’ve been serving this week. The name is called Bethesda Evangelical Church, which is interesting because I grew up in an evangelical church back home. Even though they had the same denominational name, the churches here and back home are very different. We brought all the kids on stage and did some African songs with actions. It was a blast! Then we did our drama and I think it was probably the best time we’ve done it yet.

On Sunday afternoon, we went up to the water tower on the mountain that supplies all the water for the homes in the area and overlooks the ocean and the city. The view was breathtaking! Absolutely gorgeous! I kept thinking of the seas of glass in Revelation 4 before the throne in heaven as I looked at the sparkling ocean from far above. We went there to begin our week of prayer by praying over the city together. Sadly, our time was short but I think it would be great to go there again before we leave! Quiet time on that mountain overlooking the ocean and city would be lovely! And I want to show Shane because he wasn’t able to come =(

Blessings for this week:

- Breakfast here has been at 8am instead of our usual 6:30 or 7am breakfast times! What a blessing and a nice break!

- Quiet time has been really nice in our new rooms each morning. I really love that time of day!

- Shane and I got to stroll through a mall and eat frozen yogurt on February 14^th for Valentine’s Day! Then after our personal time with the Lord at the beach that day, we got a little time together on the beach too! What a special day after all for our marriage!

- This location has a piano! Woo! Hoo! I got to play and sing for almost an hour by myself on Tuesday morning and it was very refreshing!

- The food here is AMAZING! We are eating so well!

- I finished my last book for the DTS! Going Public with the Gospel was an awesome book and I definitely recommend it!

- The roosters crow all day long here, the guard dogs are friendly and there is a random peacock that we think likes to stare at its own reflection in the windows.

I must say, I’ve really enjoyed the transition to our final location! Can you tell?!

South Africa Outreach - Week 7 Summary

Week 7 was our last week in Muizenberg and moving day was on Sunday the 13th (my lovely sister and mother’s birthdays!)! We are now in Somerset West for week 8, 9 and 10 and it’s wonderful to be here! But I’m getting ahead of myself and need to do my summary for week 7 before I jump into week 8!

In week 7, we:
- Said good-bye to Saara, the LA team and our school leader Athol on Monday morning
- Continued the sand flea saga….but now Shane is covered and the rest of the team is dealing with them too in a more pronounced way!
- Had our last week of soccer and surf camps and said our good-byes on Friday =( Shane came to soccer camp on Tuesday to check it out! That was fun! Then all 10 of us went to the surf camp on Wednesday to do one of our skits.
- The 5 girls on our team worked on a dance to share when we minister (but we haven’t shared it anywhere yet)
- Did A LOT of 4K mapping work! Shane and I spent hours at the YWAM Muizenberg base making phone calls and entering data into the computer program. It was a lot of paperwork and behind the scenes stuff in the mornings this week!
- I did Wednesday morning’s devotional for the team. My devotional was called Fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It was fun!

On Wednesday evening, we went to Red Hill to continue with the cell groups. What we didn’t know was that cell groups were cancelled for a few reasons and instead the church put on a big thank-you celebration to simply fellowship with our team for our last time together. It was so special! We worshipped together, danced, ate food and shared at an open mic about what we learned and appreciated about one another! So special!

On Thursday, Shane, Angie and I went to Somerset West to have a meeting at the place we are staying at for the last 3 weeks. It was sooo encouraging! The place is beautiful and super peaceful! It feels like it’s out in the country but it’s super close to the town and they didn’t even know what I was talking about when I asked if they had sand fleas =) Woo! Hoo!!

On Friday morning we had our last morning in the community of Red Hill. We went door to door saying good-bye to our friends and gathering the community for free eye screening at the clinic. It was a great way to end our door-to-door evangelism mornings in Red Hill!

On Friday evening we had our last youth meeting and last trip in general to the community of Red Hill. Many of the youth were not there because of a school function for Valentine’s Day but we still enjoyed the people who were there and did a drama, a testimony and a message. They were so nice to give us another farewell complete with certificates of thanks for each one of our team members, who they called up by name and clapped for us! What a blessing! My favorite part of the evening was that 3 of our friends from the community came that evening! They had never been to that church before and we were so blessed that they joined us! 2 of them were 2 of the ladies who got saved in the last few weeks during morning ministry in the community! We got to be a part of the same small group for prayer =)

On Saturday, Shane and I celebrated Valentine’s Day together! We hadn’t had a day off together alone for 2 weeks and I was feeling it a little. Even on a day off, there are still people around when you live in the same house, but I am so thankful for the afternoon hours when the others went out and we could have some time alone. So glorious! We went for lunch at the Christian café near the YWAM base called Kosie’s, took a walk on the beach and relaxed at the house. It was wonderful! I even got to briefly call my mom and sister to wish them happy birthdays! I’m SOOO thankful for that!

On Sunday, we visited the King of Kings Baptist Church for the second time. They have great sermons! Then it was packing and cleaning time before we left for Somerset West around 3pm! We said good-bye to some of our friends, the landlord and the neighbors and piled in the van for the quick trip to Somerset West (45 minutes).

So, I am writing last week’s update from Somerset West but I’m going to save the description of our new location for week 8’s update!

South Africa Outreach - Week 6 Summary

Week 6 had some huge challenges, significant breakthrough and some team fun! What a week it has been! Whoever has been praying a little extra as we come to mind, it’s the guidance of the Lord this week! We’ve needed it in a big way! Our team went through a lot this week on the home front and we have been growing in many ways. After a total of hours of discussions, tears, honest communication plus a visit from our wonderful school leader, we are in a much better space and learning how to grow together as a team.

Last weekend (January 29 & 30), Shane and I went on a date at a little pizza shop on the beach. It was SO nice to get away and connect with some quality conversation just the two of us! Glorious! Then on Sunday, we visited the church in Red Hill for their church service. It was African-style with dancing, praising and 4 hours later, we headed home =) We did our drama, Angie did a dance, we shared some testimonies and my wonderful husband preached an awesome sermon for almost an hour on The Foundation of the First Commandment. It was soooo good! I’m soooo proud!

A highlight from the end of week 5 and all of week 6 has been that the LA team we met back in Worcester has joined us in Muizenberg now! They are on their debrief week before heading home and finishing their DTS! We have enjoyed connecting with our lovely friend Saara from Finland again and loving on her like I would my little sister who is far away in New Zealand =(

This week in Red Hill, we did door to door evangelism on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We prayed for people, recruited for the start of Wednesday night cell groups, got to give my friend her Xhosa Bible and led a young man to Jesus in his home!

On Wednesday night, we started cell groups in local homes in Red Hill, separating our team into pairs and going to each home with one of the church members. The turn out was decent with 9-15 people in each home with a total of 5 homes running the first night! That is pretty good, though a number of the people from the church are from another community and we’d like to see the community of Red Hill more involved. The cell group that Shane and I were a part of facilitating was a surreal experience. It deserves its own little blog.

On the health front, things have been challenging this week. Shane had a wicked migraine on Monday and was stuck in bed all day. The night before one of our team members had a horrific dream about Shane at night and he woke up in the middle of the night quite afraid. So, between the dream and the wicked migraine, we covered him in prayer that evening as a team. The next day he was back out in ministry as his head recovered and he’s been fine! Praise the Lord!

As for the sand flea saga, sadly, it hasn’t gotten better =( I thought it was but now it’s worse! On Thursday, Shane and I counted the bites on my body and we found 97! They are super itchy and the worst ones are around my lower belly and back! The idea of fleas feasting on me at night has really been bothering me and making for disturbed nights. Please pray with me that these fleas would die for good and stop eating us! I would love prayer for peace of mind, healing for the bites and itching and that none would come with us to Sommerset West when we leave Muizenberg!

Random points:
- At soccer camp on Monday, I scored the winning penalty! I was a hero to those little boys and they chanted my name and everything. It was a lot of fun for a girl who always plays defense =)
- I’ve continued on at soccer camp and have really enjoyed it! Soccer suits me much better than the surf camp! I’m so thankful that soccer camp has been an option!
- I continue to find a lot of life doing one-on-ones with Ashley and Allison. They are such an encouragement to me!
- Thankfully, the wind has started to die down! Apparently that’s what happens come February and was a blessing it is!
- Our school leader came for a pastoral visit and it was such a life saver! We had lots of team meetings and discussions and then enjoyed some fun team time including a rugby game, climbing Table Mountain and having a South African braai, It meant adding another male to the house putting the stats to 6 men and 1 female (me) but it went really well and there has been a lot of grace.
- Another first is that Shane and I cut his hair! Now that the wind has died down, he’s been really hot and needed to shed some hair. So, it’s not quite like getting it done by our favorite hairdresser but it’s pretty good for a “missionary hair cut” by two people who haven’t done it before!
- I’ve actually been alone a time or two more since week 5’s post! So wonderful!
- We were having problems with the lock on our bathroom door. On Thursday, I got locked in to the bathroom for 20 minutes after my shower! We took the door handles off to try to get me out, which didn’t help and were in the process of unscrewing the bars on the window to let me climb out when the landlord came and helped! Now we have a new lock that gives us no trouble!
- We joined YWAM Muizenberg for their Monday morning intercession and Thursday evening worship service. David Hamilton spoke on Thursday…he’s from Kona and was our last speaker on lecture phase! It was a little Kona reunion!

As we go into week 7, our time in Muizenberg is coming to a close. This is our last week here before we go to Somerset West on Sunday, the 13th! I’m looking forward to our last location of outreach! It’s going to be nice! So we’ll finish location #2 enjoying our time at Red Hill and the soccer and surf camps!

South Africa Outreach - Week 5 Summary

Note: Week 4 and 5 are posted at the same time so read week 4 first! Just scroll down!

Week 5 has finished which means we are half way through our 10 week outreach! During our time of prayer and worship as a team this morning, I prayed that the next 5 weeks would supercede the last 5 weeks 10 fold in all that God wants to do in and through us! Amen!

Last weekend, we went to Cape Town as a team and celebrated on of our team member’s birthdays! Ashley turned 21 and we celebrated by going to Hillsong Church, walking through a fancy mall and having lunch together at Waterfront (a marine with a big mall and a bunch of restaurants). It was nice on one hand to walk around in a mall that felt more like “regular” life, do something fun as a team and celebrate one of our birthdays! On the other hand, it had some culture shock components. I had a really hard time at Hillsong Church, which gave me a glimpse of the potential culture shock that could come once we return home after outreach.

We’ve been spending a lot of time in townships and see a lot of needs and poverty. It was really hard to go to a huge church with a ton of money and a very programmed schedule. They had a timer on a tv at the back and if the worship, announcements or speaking went longer than allotted, it said “Time’s Up!”. Our time there really grieved my heart and made me upset. I felt more of the Spirit in the little church in the township than I did at some big mega church. I’m sure there will be more processing like this as we go along and transition home.

One of the biggest themes of week 5 is sand flea bites. It all started last Saturday when I got some red bite marks on my ankles. They got worse for the next few days and when we went to the pharmacy, I was told that I reacted quite strongly to sand flea bites. How disgusting! I’ve got about 45 bites scattered on my lower legs, around my belly and from my hands to my elbows. They itch like crazy and I tried to say away from the meds for a few days after I found out what they are, but it just was driving me crazy and affecting my sleep at night. So, things are getting under control now and I’m thankful. They are still itchy at times but I have a daily antihistamine to take and a topical ointment to apply. I also invested in a bottle of insect repellent to hopefully keep them away from me! Today, the landlord is fumigating our housing so hopefully if there are any in the mattresses, bedding or clothes, they will DIE! Generally, we pray for life but this week my prayer has been “To any bug, rodent or sand flea in this room, die in the name of Jesus!” =)

In ministry this week, we’ve continued to do prayer walking and door to door evangelism in the Red Hill community on Monday and Thursday mornings. Monday was awesome as I got to lead 2 women to the Lord in one of their homes! The harvest is plentiful and hearts are ready! That’s for sure! On Thursday, another 2 women came to know the Lord through our team! One is the lady we built the house for and the other is her cousin =) I now have a Xosa Bible to give my friend that I mentioned last week, but her door was closed on Thursday so I’ll have to bring it next week.

On Wednesday night, we worshiped with the church in Red Hill again. I love the worship times with them! The singing and dancing is so much fun! Then we lead a teaching on the simple church model so that the church can start cell groups in homes in the community. The hope is that next week, we’ll split into pairs and support them as they get started! Shane led the teaching and facilitated the evening and he did a wonderful job! He is so good at those kinds of things! At one point, I looked up and there is my Shane, standing at the front, speaking into the mic and teaching the people as he carries a beautiful, black toddler in his arms. The little guy was pretty fascinated as he watched Shane and my heart melted again. I love my husband and I’m so grateful for this time in moments like that.

Tonight (January 28^th) we are heading back to Red Hill to join in with the youth! We’re going to do our drama and testimonies and it should be a fun time. I pray that the Lord moves in power for salvation as many of the kids that come to youth don’t know Christ.

As for the camps in the afternoon, I’ve spent most of the week at the soccer camp instead of the surf camp. After all this sand flea stuff, I needed a break from the beach! I definitely enjoy soccer more and have been getting beat up playing defense this week! I got to share the word twice to the kids this week and it was good! Shane has been continuing at the surf camp and though it may sound strange, now that we’re apart for 3 hours a day, I’m missing him a lot! It sounds sappy but we’ve been together almost every waking moment for 4 months and I really like it!

Random points:

- We’ve been in Muizenberg for 2 weeks now and have 2 weeks remaining before we go to Sommerset West for 3 weeks.

- As I type this, I have the house to myself for the first time! I don’t anticipate to be this lucky again on outreach so I’m loving this hour or two! I made a cup of hot chocolate to make this time special =)

- We’ve started eating lunch and supper at the local YWAM base and it is soo nice! It greatly reduces the time around meals as we were shopping, preparing and cleaning up after each meal as a team. This is way more convenient!

- We had a meeting with a lady who lives in South Africa who lead the first Call2All DTS in Kona when our school leaders did their DTS (we are only the 3^rd Call2All DTS). It was envisioning about Call2All and I enjoyed it!

- An hour of scheduled quiet time entered the schedule again this week and I’m very thankful to have it back in the schedule for most mornings! I like this time of the day!

- We’ve started a 4K Mapping project here in Muizenberg. It isn’t one of the specific themes for this location but we were given a project to do for YWAM Muizenberg. We are going to map out all the places that they have a presence in ministry and outreach in the area. It will be a tangible way to see where they are and where they are not for future endeavors and areas of ministry!

- I’ve started the last required book reading for our DTS and I’m really enjoying the book so far! “Going Public with the Gospel; Reviving Evangelistic Proclamation” by Lon Allison and Mark Anderson. I’ve also started a book called “The Bait of Satan; Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense” by John Bevere which I think will be a part of walking in great freedom and wholeness for me!

Hopefully, the end of week 5 will mean the end of the sand flea saga! I’m looking forward to the weekend and spending our day off (Saturday) with Shane! I’ve felt some breakthrough this week emotionally in the challenges with our team. It’s been hard to see the light some days when tensions and frustrations are running high, but God has a bigger plan for our outreach than that! So, I’m so thankful that some of the difficulty emotionally has lifted in the last few days! Please continue to pray for me, Shane and our team! We need it and really appreciate it!

South Africa Outreach - Week 4 Summary

It’s been a week since we arrived in Muizenberg. Yes, I said Muizenberg…not Fish Hoek. Both are suburbs of Cape Town and our housing is actually in Muizenberg which is beside Fish Hoek.

The city of Muizenberg is very beautiful. We are located at the base of some beautiful mountains and a 15 minute walk from the coast of the Atlantic ocean. The water is cold here! The houses and towns are located along the coast and up the mountains which makes me think that this area of South Africa reminds me of the pictures I’ve seen of Greece =) So beautiful!

Week 4 has been incredibly challenging for us and our team. Tensions have been running high as we live in close community with one another. Community living has taken on a whole new meaning as I am living in a small house with one bathroom, my husband, 4 other guys between the ages of 18 and 40 and a thin door separating us from the rest of the house. Please pray for me over the next 3 weeks! I have never been so thankful for my little apartment in Winnipeg where I live with my husband and no others (except for the times my siblings have lived with us for a few weeks or a month)! I’ve never lived with males who I’m not related to or married to and it has been a little overwhelming.

We have two main ministries that we are working with here. In the mornings or evenings, we are working with Living Hope. It’s hard to explain what they do and are because they do all kinds of things (palliative health care, AIDS counseling, feeding of the homeless, teaching work skills, children’s programs, etc). For our team, they have asked us to work with a pastor from a local community in a township at the southern tip of the continent. Red Hill is an informal settlement of about 2500 people. There are prophecies about revival beginning in South Africa and spreading upward into the whole continent of Africa. Red Hill has prophecies specifically about revival, as it is the southern most settlement in South Africa! It’s awesome what the Lord is doing and saying!

This week in Red Hill, we did door-to-door evangelism and built a house (shack really) for a woman in the community whose house collapsed. It has been such a blessing to grow in boldness in sharing the message of Jesus with people. A huge strength in our team is evangelism whether it’s during outreach, at the grocery store or wherever! This week 3 more people got saved! We also joined the church for a bible study, which ended up being an evening of praise, worship, dancing, sharing testimonies and prophetic words! It was super refreshing and it was so much fun! I felt so at home in the Spirit with those people!

In the afternoons, our team separates into two groups and 6 of us help with a soccer camp and the others volunteer at the surf camp. Shane and I spent the week at the surf camp and let me tell you, it has been crazy! We thought the kids in Worcester were violent and needing lots of attention. Well, the kids from a local township (Capricorn) that come to the surf camp are WAY worse. They are in need of a lot of love and attention and are consistently violent and perverted. It’s so sad to see their behavior because they must see awful things at home. The townships are overcrowded, made up of small shacks, filled with violence, theft and immorality. The surf camp has been a big challenge and it’s hard to see the fruit of why we are there. But, that being said, after one of our girls gave the 10 minute word on Wednesday, one young boy came to her and said he wanted to build his life on a good foundation and gave his life to Jesus! So, those moments make it worth it!

Random details of outreach location #2:

- The weather in Muizenberg is cooler than Worcester. Definitely not the heat we encountered and I’m thankful =) It’s SUPER windy here and I have to pull out sweaters and my jacket some days. It’s crazy to think I can wear jeans and a sweater in Africa during their summer! Who would have thought?!

- Shane and I have had almost no time alone here in Muizenberg. One night, we walked up and down our street just to have some alone time and get some fresh air. Today, we have had the house to ourselves for 3 glorious hours! I’m so thankful!

- We spent our first full day here in prayer as a team. It was a great way to start our next 4 weeks. We prayed, shared, had time to quietly listening to what the Lord is saying for our time here and we read through Acts from start to finish out loud as a team (it took 2.5 hours). It was a great way to start location #2!

- Our 3 focus themes from the 7 themes of Call2All that we cover on outreach that we are focusing on here are compassion, church planting and unreached, unengaged people groups. We continue to do evangelism, 4K mapping, orality and prayer anyways!

- The first night here as we were getting ready for bed, the biggest cockroach I’ve ever seen was on our floor in our room! He was super fast and sent us on a squealing chase! He ended up running under the door of the guys room =)

- We have a nice room with a beautiful window that faces the back yard (including the concrete wall with spikes to deter theft). I’m so thankful that we have our own room! The mattress is in very rough shape and dips big time in the middle! We pray for our backs each night and it hasn’t given us pain! Praise the Lord!

- We did an experiment this week as suggested by one of our team members and appointed two people each morning to pray for the day, the team and our outreach for 30-60 minutes before breakfast. It was good! At our team meeting, we shared what we heard from the Lord that morning.

- We had to take our clothes to the Laundromat for the first time today. It’s weird and somehow a relinquishing of control to not be able to do your own laundry! So, a load went there and we did another one by hand in the bathroom tub. Shane and I haven’t hand washed clothes together before. There’s always room for more firsts =)

So, on the whole week 4 was a big challenge team-wise. We could use as much prayer as possible for our team unity and for the community living. I’m hoping that we can grow closer and stronger and that this next week is an easier one. I’m hoping and praying a day or two off this weekend does us all good!

The highlights of each day definitely have to do with the outreach ministry. It is such a blessing to minister along side my wonderful husband. It is a blessing to work as a team in evangelizing, meeting new people, praying for people and loving on the kids. I’m sooooo thankful he is here. I wouldn’t want to do it without him! It’s so great to have the support of your closest friend and to have this experience together!

As we go in to week 5, I’m looking forward to our ministry times in Red Hill. I am super excited that we are going to focus on discipling in that area, including starting cell groups using the simple church model! Many people have made a commitment to Jesus at some point but aren’t living out a relationship with Him. What a challenge it is to follow Jesus if you don’t have a Bible or any support from friends or family to grow in Him. I want to encourage and teach these ones, starting with getting my friend a Bible in her language!

South Africa Outreach – Week 3 Summary

Yesterday marked 3 weeks since we left Kona for our outreach and Sunday marks 3 weeks in South Africa. We’ve been located at a YWAM base in Worcester, South Africa, which is a smaller town near Cape Town which is the most rural we’ll be. The view of the mountains every morning is breath-taking!

Tomorrow, we will leave the base in Worcester and move on to our second location in Fish Hoek. Fish Hoek is a suburb of Cape Town and is right on the coast! The view of the ocean is incredible! I know because we visited 2 weeks ago when we did beach evangelism and it looks gorgeous! Definitely different than Worcester but I’m ready for a change! I’m looking forward to moving on in our outreach and starting ministry somewhere new!

Here are a few things we did in week 3!

- The focus theme for this week from the 7 Call2All themes has been 4K Mapping. It is a technology that involves mapping areas for the purpose of reaching every area of the world and completing the Great Commission. It is also useful for data collection so that other teams that come here can see who we’ve connected with and follow-up with the people that short term teams have made contact with. Hopefully it will make Call2All increasingly effective in this community from outreach to outreach!

- The last team focused on mapping churches. We have felt led to map businesses and support the businesses and store owners. It’s been really fun to do something totally different this week than last. I’ve been enjoying sharing Jesus with businesses more than the children’s VBS we did last week. Children’s ministry is exhausting though rewarding! I commend those who have a gifting for children’s ministry! We need you!

- It was such a pleasure to watch my husband lead someone back to the Lord and pray with them! This is awesome stuff to do together!

- The 4K Mapping/Business Evangelism has been the focus in the mornings and the hospital visits have continued to be a part of our afternoons this week. We had so much life doing them last week that many of us wanted to do them this week too! It has been such a highlight for me personally. I love caring for people in the hospital, bringing them some joy and prayer and supporting those who are hurting. The babies who have been abandoned by their parents and are in the hospital without a parent are the ones many of our team members have really bonded with. It was sad to say good-bye today =(

- One-on-ones have continued and I am so encouraged by the girls I get the privilege of meeting with each week! I’m so thankful for the chance to spend time one-on-one with them! God is doing great things in the lives of our team members!

- We enjoyed joining the base for Monday morning worship, just like they do in Kona. A lot of the songs played were older Vineyard songs from back in my Winnipeg Centre Vineyard days and I felt like dancing! I haven’t danced in a long time and when I mentioned to Shane that I felt like it, he thought maybe it was because it reminded me of my dancing days back at the Vineyard =) It was fun to step out in a new location and be bold and dance!

- Shane and I really clicked with one of the girls from the LA team that has been on base. Saara is from Finland and reminded us of our lovely Stephanie! It’s not every day you meet someone that you feel is like a kindred spirit =) We were sad to say good-bye on Tuesday when the LA team left =(

- I got a date with my husband! How glorious! We had lunch at the mall nearby all by ourselves and it was lovely to connect!

- Our outreach host is friends with a man who owns a game reserve nearby! We got an awesome deal and on our day off on Wednesday, our team went to see the Big 5! The animals were gorgeous!

- On Thursday, our team asked the Lord if He was asking us individually to go out that morning or stay and commit the morning to prayer, the Word and connecting with Him. I stayed on base feeling really spent after giving out a lot and needing some refreshment from Jesus. It was wonderful to have 4.5 hours alone with Jesus! I’m so thankful for this time!

- Today we went to a school, where the teachers were meeting before school starts on Monday. We gave a word and prayed over the teachers and principal. There were many wet eyes in the room and the principal started to say thank-you but left the room crying because he was so touched! It was great to move with the Holy Spirit!

- We also went to a drug rehab center and sang songs, we did our skits and Cam shared his powerful testimony. All 19 people in the room gave their lives to Jesus! There was hardly a dry eye in that room! So powerful!

Random details and blessings:

- I am super thankful to report that the heat wave has passed! Now it is just the normal warm temperatures but not psycho hot! Praise the Lord! I had a tough time being sick in the heat wave!

- I’m happy to report that my stomach is better and Shane is breathing fine again! (The smoke made his allergies and asthma really flare up!). His toe is getting better and he can almost walk normal again. Thankfully, he hasn’t needed the crutches for the last 2 weeks or so! Please pray that the healing is complete before we start our soccer and surf camps next week because at this point he can’t run or kick.

- Toilet paper and soap are hard to come by in South Africa or so it seems. During the hospital visits, it’s hard to find both in the bathrooms and it’s amazing how little soap is on the wards too! They all have dispensers that don’t work! And, after coming from a hospital where there is hand sanitizer on every wall, it’s so weird that there is none here! At night on the base, sometimes there is no toilet paper in all 3 stalls in the girls’ bathroom! It drives me a little crazy and I get Shane to give me a roll from the boys’ bathroom =)

- Our little friend with long legs whom we named Stephanie 3 weeks ago is still with us. We have a spider in the corner of the ceiling that has joined us for our time in Worcester and is still with us. I guess she’ll be staying and will be ready to welcome the next couple who sleeps in this room =)

God is doing great and marvelous things! It’s a pleasure to partner with Him in what He is doing in South Africa. It’s so true that the harvest is plentiful!

There are challenges in leading a team and in pouring out day after day. Please continue to pray for refreshment and refilling for us. It’s a good kind of tired at the end of the day =)

As we move this morning, we will likely not have internet access where we are staying. So, I don’t know if I’ll be able to blog or email but we’ll try to get to an internet café or something from time to time.

Here’s a few prayer requests:

- More salvations and power for healing!

- Protection for our team in Fish Hoek

- Wisdom and discernment in making decision as leaders

- Grace, patience and love for our team members

- Guidance about the future

- And whatever else the Lord may highlight to you as you pray!

Thanks and we love you! Hello from South Africa!

South Africa Outreach - Week 2 Summary

2011 is now here and we have been on outreach for over 2 weeks already (including all that travel time). We’re on day 14 in Worcester, South Africa and so much has happened already! And we still have 2 months to go!

Here’s a brief rundown of what we did in week 2!

- Worship and prayer as a team – I led on Friday by guitar for the first time in years because there isn’t a piano around! And I started to write a song one afternoon!

- Started one-on-ones – These are an important part of DTS where we get time weekly with our leaders by ourselves to process how things are going. Because Shane and I are helping as student leaders, I am doing one-on-ones with 2 of the girls and Shane has all 4 boys to meet with each week. I was so encouraged last Sunday when I met with the girls! I hope this part of the week continues to be so encouraging for me!

- I got to share my testimony for the first time! – On Sundays we attend local churches (last week was a colored church that had really good worship and a great heart and today we went to a black church. They really know how to make a joyful noise and dance!)

- We’ve been doing our two dramas a lot! (at churches, children’s ministry, the beach, street evanglism, etc). I have the main part in the one drama that we do all the time and I’m hoping I don’t get too sick of doing it by the end of outreach =) I don’t have the chance to get shy here…I just have to go for it!

- Beach Evanglism last Sunday – dramas, praying for people, sharing the Gospel!

- Saw penguins at Boulder Beach!

- Vacation Bible School/Children’s Ministry at a squatter camp (Avian Park) in the mornings for 2-3 hours.

- Hospital visits at a local state hospital in the afternoon – this was a big highlight for me this week! We prayed for people for healing, encouraged people, prayed for staff, played with babies, shared the gospel and led people to Jesus (~8 people throughout the week!)

- Lunch with the team on our day off at a restaurant! Sadly, I was sick after that experience. I don’t know if it was related but myself and another guy that had the same meal were sick by that night =( I spent 4 days sick this week and had to miss some ministry which was disappointing =(

- Street evangelism downtown – dramas, testimonies and praying for people in front of a grocery store! People got saved and rededicated their lives to Jesus!

Random details and blessings:

- We’ve noticed that what seems like all the dogs in the neighborhood start barking at 10:30pm each night. It was pretty annoying at the beginning but now we’re getting used to it. Thankfully, they settle down after a little while!

- I can no longer say it’s nice and cool in the mornings and evenings with weather I like better than Kona. We experienced an African summer heat wave this week and temperatures were almost 50 degrees! It was unbearable!

- During the heat wave, the wind is even hot!

- The Christmas break is over on the base and students arrived this week. Now the place is full of more people and the kitchen has opened up so we don’t have to prepare our own meals, which is a real treat!

- As we’ve gotten to know our neighbors in our building, we really like them! Many families in our building are from Brazil and the ones on either side of us are from Brazil and Madagascar! Our neighbors from Madagascar have said they want us to stay =)

- I’m guessing there is a beehive somewhere near our window because I’ve been killing a lot of bees in our room. I definitely think that screens are very convenient! The flies and bees buzzing against the window have managed to wake me up from a nap and from a night’s sleep even with ear plugs in!

- Safety is an issue if you go off base without a group and in certain places so we are careful. The base has a wall or fence around it with barbed wire around the top. It doesn’t freak me out because it was just the same in Haiti at the base we stayed at.

My favorite part of week 2 was having the incredible pleasure of leading someone to the Lord for the first time in my life! I’ve been a Christian for a long time but I’ve never been a part of someone coming to know Jesus right before my eyes. I’ve longed for many years to be a part of this and it has been on my hopes and dreams list at the beginning of the New Year for years now. Well, it was written there again when I wrote my little list of what I wanted for 2011 on December 31^st. By January 3^rd, my hope and dream came true! And not only one, but 3 people came to know Jesus!

We were visiting the hospital for the first time. There was a very sick 13 year old girl who was having a really hard time breathing, oxygen mask, IV in and such. Her mom was with her and Shane and I asked if we could pray for her. Her mom said she needed prayer for her liver, swelling in her legs and her lungs. We began to pray for healing and the little girls situation looked pretty serious to me. The nurse in me counted her respirations, which were 48 per minute! I was thinking about how this girl needed Jesus if she didn’t know Him.

It was incredible but right them, a lady who sometimes visits the patient appears at the bedside and translates what I’m saying in Afrikaans so the mom could understand and the daughter could understand more clearly. It was a divine appointment and I’m so thankful that lady appeared of what seemed out of nowhere! I inquired and found out that the mom and the daughter did not know Jesus. I shared the Gospel with the girl and asked if she wanted to know Jesus as her personal friend and pray with me. I led her in a prayer which she repeated “Yes Jesus” after every sentence through her oxygen mask, because she didn’t have the strength to repeat all the words because her trouble breathing. We welcomed her into the family and told her that now we are brothers and sisters in the family of God! The team ended up coming in and gathering around her bed. They sang over her, prayed over her and it was a party welcoming a new sister into the Kingdom of God!

Then, her mom and the lady in the next bed both came to Jesus next! It was an incredible honor to share Jesus and meet receptive people who just needed to hear the Gospel and had ready hearts!

I don’t know what ended up happening to this girl because they were transferring her to Cape Town but I know on January 3^rd, there were divine appointments at Worcester Hospital that exploded into eternity! And I’m just so pumped that I was included! God didn’t need me, but He wanted to use me and He did! Amen to that!

Be encouraged! God is on the move and souls are being saved! Woo! Hoo!

Farewell 2010!

At the end of each year, I love looking back on the year and counting my blessings and doing my personal inventory of what happened in my life and what the Lord did. I like to go back to the wish list I made at the end of the previous year and see which of the things that I had hoped to happen actually came true the same year!

Being in South Africa at this time of year means that I don’t get to do my usual inventory because I don’t have my old journals and day planners here =) So, a brief one by what I can remember will have to do!

There were some AWESOME blessings in my life in 2010 and some sad parts too:

- Went on an “internal” vacation and had some breakthrough and freedom!

- Went on a sister trip to Kansas City in February for my lovely sister’s birthday – I’m especially glad we did that now that I see that we would be apart 8-10 months =(

- Went to Haiti in March and felt the passion for missions awakened in my heart again

- Got my first (and hopefully last) parasite from Haiti which we named “Keith” and lost 10 pounds in a few days! I don’t want to relive that experience!

- SHOP had a conference and we brought our friend Justin Rizzo out for it in May. We had the pleasure of hosting his fiancée, Naomi at our place and really enjoyed getting to know her!

- Call2All DTS entered our conversation on June 1 while walking in the park.

- Had a wonderful 6^th anniversary in Kansas City. Went to the Awakening Services to seek the Lord about our 7^th year of marriage! Also got to spend a night at a hotel, which we hadn’t done since our honeymoon!

- Steph moved in with us for just over a month before she left for her DTS. It was so wonderful to have that time together!

- My baby sister left for YWAM at the end of July and this transition was tough for our family. We are so close and it’s so hard to be apart =(

- We got accepted for the Call2All DTS on August 31^st, while house-sitting for my aunt and uncle.

- I quit my job at St. Boniface and embarked on a new adventure!

- Shaun moved in with us 2 weeks before we left for Kona. I’m thankful for this time with him too!

- SHOP moved locations for the first time in it’s history.

- We left for Kona, Hawaii on September 28^th and flew in an airplane together for the first time since our honeymoon!

- Grandpa Ross, a dear friend and grandpa, died while we were in Kona on our lecture phase of DTS and we couldn’t come home for the funeral =(

- We landed in South Africa on December 26^th!

- God provided for ALL of our needs this year! He provided in incredibly awesome ways for His glory!

Thinking back at this year, a neat fact is that I’ve slept in 10 different cities/places in 2010! I’ve spent the night in Winnipeg, Kansas City, Council Bluffs, Miami, Haiti, Hawaii, South Africa, Steinbach, Rock Lake and on an airplane! Wow!

2010 was a year full of blessings, challenges and lots of growth. I am so blessed by what the Lord has brought into my life this year. I have probably met more people this year than any other year in my life. I’ve been surprised by the Lord’s gifts to me. I’ve cried, been pressed and molded more and more. I’ve grieved more than many other years. I’ve loved deeper as I’ve been a part from the ones I love. I’ve had to trust God more and be willing to take jumps that I haven’t had to before (and it’s been worth it). I’ve been more uncomfortable than the last few years as I’m not in the familiar anymore. I’ve dreamed more.

So many good things have happened this year and so many hard things have happened that have been incredible opportunities to lean into the Lord and grow into the woman of God that I am created to be more and more. I am so thankful for this year of my life and the Lord did so many good things, even though 2010 wasn’t a walk in the park =)

Good things are in store for 2011 and though I don’t know what it will hold, it’s going to be a great journey as we continue saying yes to all that the Lord wants to draw us into and do in us and through us!

Happy New Year!