South Africa 2013 - Recap 5-8

South Africa 2013 Recap of Days 5-8 Day 5 - Sunday, 2/24 Worshipped at Living Hope Church in Sunnyside where Josh Mack pastors. Newton was preaching today, a strong sermon on Matthew 5:8. Solid exposition of scripture and passionate preaching. Before church I went to Salvakop with Andre and picked people up for church. 19 people in a 10 passenger van! After church the team went to Nixon's flat for an authentic DRC (Congo) meal and to hear his testimony of God's grace in his life as a husband, father and seminary student and pastoral intern at Living Hope. A long day but full of sweet worship and fellowship. God is good and Jesus is Lord. Day 6 - Monday, 2/25 Up at 3 am for a 345 am pickup and 4 am departure from Pretoria, South Africa to the small country of Lesotho, a unique country within a country completely surrounded on all sides by South Africa. We will be 'roughing it' a bit, in the village of Rahomaneng, about 50 kilometers (about 35 miles) from the South African border town of Ficksburg. Lesotho is more mountainous, more remote, surrounded by mountains with Grand Canyon-esque plateaus and distant ranges, wide open spaces with dramatic views in all directions. In Lesotho, we are on what I'm calling "A missions trip within a missions trip to a country within a country" led by servant extraordinaire and quickly becoming good friend Andre DeWit. On the menu for our team is feeding orphans, building a church (including digging an outhouse) and enjoying the fellowship of the people. We arrived, got settled and promptly worked hard under the blazing hot African sun. In the evening we studied Galatians 4:4-7 and focused on how God's adoption of believers inspires human adoption. Day 7 - Tuesday, 2/26 A full day of work and fellowship! Feeding multiple groups, lots of dusty hot digging and a sweet time in the Word as Ted Dang (Sonja Kostura's brother) led us in a study of 2 Cor. 5:17-21 and how God reconciles believers to Himself and points us to serve Him rather than ourselves, and to see others according to God's holy opinion of them versus our sinful opinions. Good word from a good brother who lives what he taught. Day 8 - Wednesday, 2/27 Up at 4 am for a 430 am pickup for a 5 am departure from Lesotho back to South Africa. Every hour on the hour we prayed for God's wisdom, blessing and strength for our upcoming outreach. I got the treat of riding shotgun for Josh Mack and a six hour drive seemed like one hour! What a dear brother. We spoke of Jesus, family, and pastoring among other things. He's one of those 'brother from a different mother' kind of guys. Gracious and kind. We arrived back at Pretoria about 1 pm. A couple of hours of rest and it was off to the Salvakop area for our planned outreach of dinner and the Jesus Film at the local school. Upon arriving in Salvakop we set up, then canvassed the neighborhood reminding people about the event. Many showed up to eat hot dogs and view the film. We are trusting God to wipe away all obstacles to faith that exist in their lives; that they would turn to Jesus and be saved. Pray for Randy Clark's weekly Wednesday Bible Study there. There are many obstacles but God has opened a door for the Word. I'm envisioning outreach like this, Bible Study and relationship-building discipleship, in areas in and near Orange that we mostly overlook or ignore. A surprise late-night run to the Muphamuzi Baby Home with Randy to drop off a car and fix some blown electricity resulted in another opportunity to fellowship and hear my brother's heart for ministry in his own home, the Church and his immediate world. There is a firm resolve on the Clark's part to serve God's purposes in this generation in South Africa. They are here 'for such a time as this', as you and I are in our place of God's planting. Bloom where you are planted! By the way, on many fronts our resolve as a team to serve unselfishly for the glory of God rather than self-focused for our own comfort is being tested; and while we are weak, we are trusting our strong Sanctifier to glorify Himself in us and complete the work He started in us. Until next time. In Christ, Mike All praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for God's glory alone. Jesus loves you!

South Africa 2013 - Recap of Days 1, 3 and 4!

South Africa 2013...Recap of Days 1, 3, & 4! What? No day 2? I think it vanished in thin air somewhere between London and Johannesburg.:) DAY 1 We left on Wednesday night, Feb. 20 and the Lord brought us safely through the air and multiple security checks and customs. Great excitement and fellowship amongst the team. This is going to be good. It already is. An amazing African sunrise seen from the plane capped off some really good travel. Praise God. DAY 3 We landed in Johannesburg early Friday morning, Feb. 22. All 20 boxes for the 1Hope Muphamuzi Baby Home, the Clarks and the Macks made it safety through. Praise God. We were greeted by Randy Clark, Josh Mack and Andre DeWit, our primary hosts and men who are in awe of Jesus and savoring gospel truth as they serve God's purposes in this part of the world. Praise God. Pretoria here we come! We pushed through jet lag and the day, driving from Joburg to Pretoria, going first to the Mack's home in Pretoria for breakfast and an initial team meeting. We were foggy but excited to finally be here. We met the Mack's nine wonderful kids, including Muphamuzi, and toured the Muphamuzi Baby Home. Beautiful babies loved by God and their gospel-changed caregivers. Praise God. Dinner at the Mack's, trying to keep our eyelids from closing. We are closing in on some sweet sleep! Off to our host homes. Praise God. DAY 4 We awoke on Saturday to the fresh sounds of birds chirping in the trees. It's summer here and the days are hot while the nights and mornings are refreshingly cool. Praise God. Today we are working at MBH (the baby home). Loading tools and boxes from the US. Heading to the Mack's for breakfast and some time singing praise to God and hearing His Word. Mike Kostura led us in a gospel-focused time in Titus 2. Then off to MBH. Driving the highways and streets with fresh eyes open to the many sights reminds me to look for needs all around when I get back home. So many gospel opportunities. Praise God. A full day of baby holding, feeding, cuddling; clothes and supply sorting; bricklaying, tree cutting, supply buying, and shelf making surrounded by sweet fellowship with brothers and sisters in the shade of trees, an easy up and under the hot African sun. Words can't do justice to the goodness of God among His people as they work together for the gospel. We were made for this. Praise God. Back to the Mack's for an amazing South African dinner of Potjie (Food cooked in a cast iron Dutch Oven over hot coals all day). Weary from work yet pressing on into some great fellowship as we savored God's goodness and some really good food. And the sound of the many children on our team interacting with their new and old friends is awesome. Praise God. So much more I could say so far...about the Clark's and their God-ordained perfect fit (heart, gifts, desire all clicking along and fitting so well with the 1Hope team) in Pretoria for such a time like this; and the Mack's and their contagious passion for Jesus and the gospel; Andre's endearing sense of humor; Donovan and his wife's humble oversight of the baby home. And the Grace team: all I can say is praise God. Mike Kostura's gospel-infused leadership; getting to serve with the Manthorne's, Hughes', Bush's, and Ted (who all display the ability and willingness to help with pretty much anything needed); and the kids bringing joy and excitement into every situation. This is good! God is good. Praise God. All praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for God's glory alone. Jesus loves you!