Farewell To An Old Friend

Dear Sleep,

You and I used to be such good friends. We were together for many hours every day. We enjoyed one another's company. We rested, relaxed and dreamed together of many things. I said no to late nights from time to time and definitely said no to early mornings so I could spend more quality time with you. Not many things could come between us. When we were together, the rest of the world faded in comparison.

For a beautiful, small and growing reason, I'm finding I don't need you anymore. Our friendship wasn't as strong as I once thought it was. I thought we'd need one another in such a big way forever, but apparently I was wrong. I'm finding I just don't need you as much as I thought I did. Other things are coming between us.

Thankfully, I'm not as devastated as I thought I'd be at the farewell of you, my dear friend. I know that we will not be apart forever. It may be many years, or not, before we are close friends again. I'm hoping my new friends far surpass your greatness and in the light of the joy they bring, I'll hardly remember you. I promise to continue to be close acquaintances with you, seeing you every day, even though our relationship won't be the same. Sorry, but I have found something better...

Your friend,
Kristi

Half Way There!

Wow! It's awesome and amazing to have come to the half way point in my pregnancy with Baby Farrow #1! I'm 20 weeks and 4 days already and feeling great for the most part! I am so blessed and so thankful!

I'm loving the second trimester (minus the round ligament pain in weeks 15-18 and the nighttime back pain lately)! It is such a fun time when my belly is starting to grow and yet I feel great, have a decent amount of energy and am loving the moving baby inside me =) I am looking forward to meeting our baby in a few months but I don't want the time to fly too fast. This is super duper special and I want to enjoy every minute of it!

This week was full of fun things related to baby! We got to see our little one on ultrasound on Monday and God totally answered our prayers and Shane got to come in for the whole thing (totally against policy)! Woo! Hoo! We declined finding out the gender and though I'm super curious, I'm so glad we didn't accidentally find out or something! I'm really wanting the surprise! My favorite parts of the ultrasound were seeing the beating heart and seeing our little one waving at us! The little hand came out and the fingers started moving =) So cute!

We took baby for his/her first experience at the beach after the ultrasound which was a fun way to spend the day! Though made in Hawaii, we never made it to the beach before we flew home so St.Malo in Manitoba is the first beach experience =)

That same day, as we were getting ready for bed, Shane had his hand on my belly and we were hoping he'd feel a first kick. Yay! Baby did it! Kicked daddy twice! We laughed and loved it! So fun!

Other than the Baby's journal, we have been so good at not buying things for Baby =) It sure helps that we don't know the gender and they don't make a lot of nice, gender-neutral clothing! But, after 20 weeks of pregnancy, we finally made two purchases for Baby this week and I am so excited about them! One on sale and the other, my first purchase off Kijiji! I'm getting excited for the arrival of this Baby!

Happy 20 weeks, my Baby!

Flutters, Pops, Flips and Somersaults!

Oh how I love the beginnings of feeling our baby move! It has been so fun to feel little movements each day and sense them getting more frequent and stronger over the past week! I love it!

The first moment I felt something that I felt more certain was baby moving was in a special environment which I'll probably never forget. At 15 weeks and 6 days, I was sitting in the FCF service in Kansas City. Mike Bickle was preaching on the Forerunner Spirit and John the Baptist and I felt this movement inside my lower abdomen. It tickled me and caused me to start chuckling mid-message! Ahhhh...yes, this baby brings me so much joy already! I still have the notes tucked into my Bible and I may have to put them in the baby's journal =)

When we returned from KC, I was listening to the heartbeat at work (the post I wrote about calling Shane and Steph so they could hear over the phone) and it was that day that I realized even more that the little things I was feeling were happening at the same time I was hearing movements from the doptone! Sure enough...those were movements!

Over the past few days, I've been feeling more and more and I love it! This past weekend, we had our annual hotel family weekend (which we normally have at Christmas) and on Saturday, baby was moving more than ever! We were relaxing and Steph had her ear to my tummy and heard a small "boom!" and felt something against her cheek at the same time I reported a little kick! So special!

This baby is a mighty mover that's for sure! Each time I have a listen, this kiddo is moving up a storm! I sometimes feel like he/she is doing flips and somersaults!

Here's some fun pictures of our weekend at the hotel!

I miss Kona and YWAM today...

I'm kinda surprised. I didn't expect the emotions I'm feeling today after 4 months.

We arrived home 4 months ago (as of next week) from our time in Kona and South Africa with YWAM and Call2All. I haven't done a lot of looking back or longing for the past at all. I've been energized to move forward and excited about what the Lord is going to do in and through us as we continue forward.

But today it really hit me. I miss Kona today. I miss the YWAM family today. I miss Monday morning worship times in Ohana Court with the whole campus. I miss hearing YWAMers sing IHOP songs, even if they didn't always seem to sing it right =) I miss Kona weather and scenery. I miss the view of the ocean. I miss palm trees. I miss the buzz of campus life, knowing that so many people are gathering in one location to grow and seek after the Lord. I miss the comradery that the community of YWAM brings. I miss the prayer room on campus today and would love to spend a few hours in there today.

I sure wish I could spend today in Kona.

I've been dreaming about Hawaii the last 2 nights and I think that has set the stage for a day of missing Kona. I'm also listening to Casting Crowns as I read the Word this morning. Their album "Until the Whole World Hears" kind of represents the hardest few weeks of outreach for me and was a very special connecting point between the Lord and myself during the really intense weeks. He has led me so well.

I want to constantly remember the greatness of the Lord and the greatness of my earthly assignment in His Kingdom. It may look tiny or grand, but I want to constantly being doing the "next big thing" that the Lord requires of me! I don't want to be standing still, waiting for time to go by. I want to be going forward at all times. I want to be in the midst of a mighty river, not standing on the banks watching it go by. I want the big things of God that are accessible to me this side of eternity.

Today my heart is remembering. I want the Lord to return. I want Him to set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem and rule and reign over this planet, making all the wrong things right. I want to see the nations transformed and I want to see millions saved, truly saved. I want to see the Great Commission completed in my lifetime. I want to see events talked about in the Bible come to pass before my eyes that I know are pre-requisites for the return of my Jesus.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Baby Moment Memories in the Making...

It's late and I'm home from my first evening of reorientation back into the float pool at work. I should be crawling into bed next to my husband right now. But, I'm off facebook right now and re-evaluating it over the past month and just needed an outlet to share my joy =) So, here I am blogger!

On my break tonight, I borrowed a doptone from triage and found an empty room on one of the labor floors. It's been 3 weeks and a long road trip to and from Kansas City since I heard my baby and I was itching to hear the little one today =) Sure enough, the little heartbeat was easy as pie to find and such a delight to hear again! I didn't think it would work at this early in pregnancy to hear the heartbeat while I was standing, but I tried and waddled my way over to the phone and called home. What a delightful surprise for my fantastic husband and darling sister when I put the doptone up to the phone for them to hear! A nice whoosh, whoosh of the blood flow to the placenta, a nice strong heartbeat at 144 beats per minute and audible movement on top of that! What a delight! And as I was listening, those perplexing, I'm-not-sure-what-I'm-feeling moments occurred again at the same time I heard baby Farrow move! I must be feeling the beginnings of movement already! Woo! Hoo!

I'm so in love. I smiled on the way home at midnight just thinking about it. I'm so excited to meet this little person when the time is right =)

Loving Life

What a beautiful June 12th! We began with a sleep-in, then spent 2 hours in the prayer room to start our anniversary off right and then off for a late lunch date at the Cheesecake Factory! We always make that our date place when we're here. We enjoyed good food, wonderful company, great conversation about the last year and the year to come and then a good walk around the Plaza! We had a fantastic ride home in the van, dancing to songs and laughing! I love my best friend!

Now it's time for supper with the Coopers!

7 Wonderful Years

7 years ago on June 12, 2004, I had the delightful pleasure of marrying my best friend and love. Other than saying yes to Jesus, saying yes to Shane has been the next best decision I've made =) My life is far more sweeter than I could have imagined marriage could ever bring and I'm so blessed that I can't even put it into words. I picked the best guy out there =)

Last year at this time, we were here in Kansas City to commit our seventh year of marriage to the Lord. Apparently, in past history, many couples reevaluated their relationship at this time and so the term "7 year itch" was coined. Also, the average year when couples divorced was at the 7 year mark in the past.

We said that was crazy and passionately took a stand for marriage and our marriage and wanted to do something extra special to put that stake in the ground. So, we booked a hotel for a night for the first time since our honeymoon and came to Kansas City to seek the Lord for the next year of our marriage. We received lots of prayer and ministry together at the Awakening Services, in the prophecy rooms and enjoyed time in the prayer room together. It was awesome!

God has been so faithful in our seventh year of marriage. He didn't directly show us the plan while we were here last year but by the end of July, we had a plan! Over the last year the Lord has done amazing things. He has taken us on an incredible faith and risk adventure, pausing regular life, going to Kona to be a part of YWAM, heading to South Africa for 2.5 months on outreach, conceiving our first baby, transitioning home, resting, growing in love, having some direction for the future and reuniting our family again by bringing all the siblings back to the same city! If this coming year is like the last, it's going to be awesome! Shane tells me it's going to be even better!

This anniversary is a special one. We have so much to be thankful for and I am reminded of that very frequently. I feel so blessed by the Lord in the things that really matter right now. Tomorrow is our 7th anniversary and we launch into our 8th year of marriage. Tomorrow also marks being 15 weeks pregnant with our wonderful baby and is the Global Day of Prayer. I do not think that it is an accident or just fluke that our anniversary after a very special, sacred year is on the same day as a global day of prayer! Also, we were in South Africa, where the Global Day of Prayer started!

I am more in love with Shane today than I was the day I married him. This year has only increased my love for him and it has been such a pleasure and delight to spend so much time together, seeking the Lord and running together in ministry. I am so happy to be married to such a wonderful man. I am so blessed that this incredible, anointed, man of God is the one God picked to be the daddy of my babies. He's going to be an incredible father. I am so blessed in so many ways.

Shane, I'm absolutely in love with you and it grows day by day! Happy 7th Anniversary, my love!

Kansas City, here we come!

Packed. Check.
Van and house clean. Check.
Wonderful company. Check.
Anticipation for rest, fun, encounter and direction. Check.
Food for my hungry baby. Check.

Kansas City! Here we come!

The Sweeter Things in Life...

What a lovely week! The weather is beautiful, I'm feeling good, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat and my sister is coming home after 10 months away! It's a great week in my world!

Yesterday was our midwife appointment and we were super delighted that we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat! Not only that....but we heard the munchkin kick too! The midwife pointed out that our baby kicked and it made me giggle and giggle! I actually still giggled about it hours later =) What a joy and delight! Our baby is a mover and a shaker already! Watch out world! This baby is going to be powerful!

And my favorite sister is coming home! I can't wait to hug her, hang out with her, hear her talk and snuggle on the couch! I have all kinds of things that I'm anticipating with Stephanie's return....foot rubs, long walks, long talks, giggles, girly dates, a lunch date at Pine Ridge Hollow (since we missed our birthdays), doing dishes together, back rubs, having her at SHOP and gatherings, and so much more! In a short 37 hours, I will squeeze her and shower love on her!

Good night!

Very Delightful News!

It is with great delight that I get to update my blog after a few weeks of laying low in the blogging world! We have very special news that we found out 2 weeks after arriving home from our time away with Call2All and YWAM!

We have a little baby forming and developing with the expected date of arrival of December 4th! We are having a baby! And I'm 9 and a half weeks preggo!

We are delighted and the timing of the Lord is perfect. I couldn't have planned it better myself. The timing was awesome....a made-on-DTS/made-in-Hawaii baby, finding out when we were home with friends and family and not far away, and in the most up-in-the-air season of our lives, suddenly an eternal being is being created within me. It's pretty crazy and awesome all at once!

It has definitely made me think about faith a lot these last few weeks. Something is happening within me that I have absolutely no control over. It's something that I can't directly see or feel but I believe that there is a little human being being formed by the Lord in my womb. I think the beginning of pregnancy is like faith....you can't see or feel something but you believe it. It reminds me how much more faith I want and how easy it is to rely on sight and the confirmation of things in the natural. I want to live more by the Spirit! I want big faith!

The last few weeks have been a little stressful and I've been battling with some fear and worry about the future. In the past, it was nerve-wracking to think of starting a family on one steady income and one support-raising income. I think it's the humor of the Lord to take us to the point where we risk all that and have no income and then we find out we are having a baby.....and we must have grown in faith in the past season because our response is pure joy =) God is hilarious and delightful and I love His ways! He is in control!

The stressful part of the last few weeks is the unknown of the future. Everything seems up in the air. Yet in the midst of it, we know that a baby is coming before Christmas. The next step is unclear, the job situations are unclear and we're in an awkward waiting period that has lasted longer than I anticipated. It's been frustrating. I just want to know the plan already. And in the midst of this all, I think about the special gift that God is giving us with our growing family. What a gift!

This evening, I was organizing the office, preparing for my sister's arrival. Stephanie will be moving in with us in 2 weeks when she returns from New Zealand! I'm really looking forward to her return! Anyways, I saw a few books in our baby stash that has accumulated over many years, mostly from an excited auntie-to-be =) I sat on the floor, put my hand on my belly and read books out loud to our baby. Though our baby can't hear yet at this gestation, I can pour love and truth into his or her little spirit! I love you baby! You are called and destined by God!

There is much I could say but this will do for now. I am excited to share our wonderful news with you all! Here are a few pictures to enjoy from the day we found out about our little miracle!

We are pregnant!

Delighted and surprised-and-yet-not all in one! First response: laughter!

Delighted and surprised-and-yet-not too! First response: doing a happy dance!

We are new parents of a growing life! Wow!

Call2All Highlights Evening

This past Tuesday, Shane and I had an evening to present the last 6 months to our family, friends and coworkers about our experiences, favorite stories and an overall account of what took place while we were in Kona and South Africa. Thank you to all who came out to support us and hear about our time with YWAM and Call2All! We really appreciate your support!

Shane and I had a really fun evening and it was a great reminder of the amazing things the Lord did in and through us as we spoke it out and shared the stories with others. Again, I am reminded that we are so honored that we got this experience. God is so kind to have given us this adventure of growing in him. I am so grateful.

We shared our stories and pictures and then had some time chatting with people with some drinks and cookies! We had a really fun night!

So thank you to all who came!
Thank you to all who rsvped either way!
Thank you to those who brought juice and cookies!
Thank you to my uncle for graciously hosting us in his church!
Thank you to my husband for spending hours eliminating pictures (6500 down to 300)!

God is so good!

Call2All Highlights Evening - April 12, 2011

Hello all!

Tomorrow night, Shane and I are having an evening to fill you in about the last 6 months away! Many have asked how the trip was and we got an idea from one of my coworkers to put on an evening to chat about our highlights, favorite stories and such! So, tomorrow is the night!

If you live in the area, please come out and join us! It should be a fun evening!

We are meeting at 7pm at Willowlake Baptist Church (45 Willowlake Crescent). Just bring yourself!

Blessings!

Back in Winnipeg...2 weeks later

2 weeks ago today, we landed back in Winnipeg, on the cold, Canadian soil.

What can I say about transition/re-entry? It's a number of things. Awkward, strange and different to start. Some things are familiar, comforting and wonderful. Other things are frustratingly the same, discouraging and not what you want to face. We've had a little of all of the above and yet the Lord has led us really well in the past 2 weeks since arriving home.

We spent week 1 resting, getting to know our home again and seeing some of our immediate family. It was actually a big adjustment to rest. We've been used to being so busy each day and having a full and effective schedule that it felt unproductive and ineffective to rest at the beginning. But, after 2 weeks of 10 hour nights because I can't get my body out of bed in the morning because I'm tired, I realize that perhaps we needed that rest! I've had lots of energy in the day and haven't needed any naps, so the long nights have really helped the transition and combating jet lag!

Week 2 was spent along the same lines...resting, enjoying home life and seeing friends mostly and a little more family. We've been taking it really slow and it's been so wise. It was hard at first, like I mentioned, but it was definitely the Lord's wisdom that we adjusted that way! He knows the best way and I'm thankful we let Him lead us in wisdom.

Here's a list of my thoughts on different day to day things since coming home:

- Our toilet paper is so much softer!
- Our water tastes so much better than South Africa or Hawaii! Our Brita helps =)
- Everything here is super-sized! Even the containers of toiletries like shampoo and face wash.
- Our apartment is so clean and comfortable! I don't feel things biting me anymore and insects aren't crawling over my arms and such anymore! No more geckos, mosquitoes, ants or cockroaches. That part is really nice!
- It's so cold here! I can't warm up even though this is spring weather and we missed the dead of winter. I have to take multiple baths a day!
- We went grocery shopping for the first time. We sure haven't had to do that in a long time! We had a nice "welcome back" from our pharmacy peeps =)
- I'm SO happy to have a tub again!
- I'm SO happy to wear my wedding rings again!
- Our bed is sooooooooooo comfy! After sleeping in 9 other beds in the past 6 months, ours beats all of them and there are no sand fleas in my bed!!! Woo! Hoo!
- It is so quiet here. The windows aren't open 24/7. There aren't birds singing early in the morning. There aren't children waking us up early in the morning. The geckos aren't talking before bed.
- It's so nice to only share a bathroom with 2 men whom I'm either married to or related to! Woo! Hoo!

God is good! He's leading us well and we'll see what this next week holds!

Travel, Debrief and Graduation...and add a Tsunami and Earthquake!

Well, this week has been our last week of our DTS experience. What a growing, stretching, challenging, fun and exciting 6 months it has been!

We left South Africa last Saturday and traveled a LONG time to get back to Kona, Hawaii for debrief and graduation. Thankfully, I had the window seat for 3 out of 4 flights! I was SOOO thankful for that! I was especially desperate for the window seat for the 17.5 hour flight from Johanessberg to Atlanta! God gave me so much grace for that flight and I did so well! I could have been on there longer by the end =)

Except for a some napping on the plane, we were awake for 52 hours in total between getting out of bed and going to bed! We had a wonderful welcome from some of our Call2All family when we landed in Kona on Sunday night and stayed up late catching up with our friends, the Hales.

Debrief week was actually really full and there wasn't much time for jet lag. Monday was a rest day but we filled it with enjoying campus, saying hello to many people, supper with our friends (the Coles from IHOP who are doing a DTS here), enjoying the prayer room (and seeing some IHOP faces in there!) and ending a great day with a message and ministry night in the prayer room by Allan Hood! What a treat! Allan was out here to speak at the Call2All Church Pioneering School this week! What an awesome time!

Our class debriefed Tuesday and Wednesday and we shared our presentations with one another of the different locations we went to (South Africa, Brazil and the Philippines). We got this awesome booklet to process our DTS experience and take home with us. I enjoyed filling it out! I also spontaneously led the class worship on Wednesday which was fun!

Sadly, we missed out on the Spirit being poured out in the prayer room on Tuesday night because jet lag hit me that day =( I was so tired and though I set my alarm for 5:35pm to make it to supper and to hear Allan Hood speak, when I woke at 7:45pm, my alarm was still set but hadn't gone off! Bummer!

We've been enjoying the prayer room, the campus and catching up with friends who were on other teams around the globe! It's been a fun and full week!

We had graduation on Thursday and Mark Anderson (president of Call2All) was our guest speaker. That was really nice that he could come and see our class. What was extra special was that he sat at the same table as Shane and I and I could pick his brain with probing questions for an hour and a half =)

To end graduation day, as we were hanging out with friends in our building, the tsunami sirens we hear on the first Monday of the month at noon went off. It was surreal at 10pm! It was a mad scramble for the first few minutes and we quickly checked CNN to find out about the earthquake in Japan. We grabbed the children from bed and headed over to campus as directly by our school leader. Generally, the students stay on campus, which is a safe spot and out of the evacuation area. Because campus is full and we are in just for debrief for a few days, they put us in housing off campus. Our place, with the other couples and families, is in a safe zone, but we don't have food and such. The singles are in a hotel that is in the evacuation area. So, to make sure everyone is accounted for, everyone had to evacuate to campus.

We all spent the night there and I slept amazingly well for the circumstances. We slept on the floor of the Ohana Court on the cement pad as a class. It was an interesting way to spend our last night together on graduation day =) They had CNN and all the updates playing on a big screen throughout the night. We also found out that we had an earthquake! What a night of natural disaster issues! It was like a scene out of a movie =)

We made it back to our place around 8am, even though the warning was still in effect. The students in the hotel had to stay on campus. The road that we always walk on, do our weekly evangelism down and where the hotel is was full of water and some of the businesses were trashed! Good thing they evacuated! I don't know how high the water got but it's amazing to me that it passed the sea wall and the road! We checked out some of the aftermath this afternoon and can see how high the water got! God is so good and He is our Protector.

Thanks for your prayers, care and concern! We are safe and sound and had an exciting night =)

Tomorrow we leave for Winnipeg and start the next season of our journey! Wow! Crazy!

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!