Arriving at the care point today for the first time, and possibly last time of my life was very exciting. Finally after years of praying for these people I have the incredible opportunity to actually see their faces. I have to admit, I was anticipating a lot of shy and timid children. Thankfully we were greeted with a group of smiling faces. Immediately I had a little girl in my arms, with her head on my shoulder. I hardly had time to take it in before three more huddled around my knees. I didn’t really think about it, instead I just jumped in. Connecting with the kids seemed natural to me. I don’t usually think twice about scooping a pouty baby into my arms, or initiating a game with active kids. Chasing toddlers around to grasp them in a tickle-filled embrace one minute, then rocking another child the next was fun, but tiring. I couldn’t help but think about my own siblings during this time. Before I knew it I was kissing them goodbye and hopping into the bus with the rest of the team.
When I look back at all the people I met, I wonder what they must be feeling. I can’t just walk up to one of the girls and ask about her past, or what she really meant behind that vague “fine” or “good” response in my common “how are you?” question. I sincerely mean it, and am ready to listen for a deeper answer. Unfortunately trust just isn’t built in a simple question, but in time. How can 6 days build a trusting relationship? I don’t know. Maybe I won’t build a relationships solid enough to include a life story from them. That’s okay. God will do His will in the next week, regardless of whether or not my hopes of a trusting relationship with an individual this week is fulfilled. I don’t know what God is planning to do in my heart this week, or in the hearts of the kids at the care point. Nevertheless, I’m excited!
Quote of the day: “Even if one of those kids was the last person on earth, Jesus would still have come to die for him.” - Logan Jones.
Family- I MISS YOU! Kent, I met all the kids you talked about and gave them your pictures. Ricky got his letter, too.
~Grace
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Brief Update
We are doing well, but unable to post full blogs due to lack of internet connections. I am posting this update via a cell phone. The team is doing an amazing job, God is at work in and through everyone. We have had 2 full days at the carepoint, it is a place full of life. We have written several blogs each night, so once we get working internet prepare to read several e.tries at once! So many God stories to share, but know your prayers ARE being answered and felt here in Swaziland. A brief highlight today was passing out 300 pairs of shoes. Personally, Jen and I had the amazing privilege of meeting our sponsor child today! Continue to pray for us as we are just beginning to become undone by God.
Love you all - for the team -
Matt
Love you all - for the team -
Matt
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Mosaiek Church and then Swaziland
We are nearing the end of our time here in South Africa. It has been a wonderful time of seeing what God is up to here in S. Africa. We are off to church at Mosaiek Church this morning - it will be a great time of worship. The service will be in Afrikaans, but they have translating services for us so we can follow along. After the service, we will head directly into Swaziland. It is about 7 hour drive to our lodging and we are excited! We plan on arriving to our Swaziland lodging about noon Colorado Springs time.
We will be writing blogs every day, however, we might not be able to post every day due to the lack of internet services. Please continue to pray for our team. The time is well rested and everybody is healthy and feeling well, but we know that the week ahead will challenge and stretch us.
Thank you for the support, prayers, and comments that you have given us. The team loved reading through the comments left on the blogs yesterday!
For the team,
Matt
We will be writing blogs every day, however, we might not be able to post every day due to the lack of internet services. Please continue to pray for our team. The time is well rested and everybody is healthy and feeling well, but we know that the week ahead will challenge and stretch us.
Thank you for the support, prayers, and comments that you have given us. The team loved reading through the comments left on the blogs yesterday!
For the team,
Matt
On the plane ride to Africa I began to have several feelings swarming my head. Of course the first one that popped in was the excitment of doing something so bold and profound as traveling to a different country just to share the word and love of God. However, I began to feel unworthy too. God has continued to show his love and affection for me daily. He has proven his undying love time and time again. I feel as though I of all people do not deserve this love. I will never begin to grasp or comprehend the reason why he loves me so. Many of the things I have done are displeasing and disappointing to him. I continue to do things that break his heart and that end up hurting me in the end as well. Instead of turning to him I turn to worldly things. Every time I am left feeling more empty than before.
So why me? What could I possibly give anyone else in a time of need when I can't help myself? How can I tell someone to turn to God and feel his love when I don't do it as an example? I guess this is because God uses people exactly like me. He uses the broken and weak to help others. Maybe that's my purpose here. To help others in need see the glory of God. To see his love even when they fall. People don't need to be perfect to be used. God has been continuely teaching me this.
One of the verses that sticks out most to me is: "My grace is sufficent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor. 12:9
This verse shows and proves that even when you mess up God still uses you. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about this. I know God loves me I just don't understand it, but you don't have to understand everything. I just have to trust in God and believe he loves me the way I have been told he does. God will take care of the rest.
Love Always,
Jessica Chrisitna
So why me? What could I possibly give anyone else in a time of need when I can't help myself? How can I tell someone to turn to God and feel his love when I don't do it as an example? I guess this is because God uses people exactly like me. He uses the broken and weak to help others. Maybe that's my purpose here. To help others in need see the glory of God. To see his love even when they fall. People don't need to be perfect to be used. God has been continuely teaching me this.
One of the verses that sticks out most to me is: "My grace is sufficent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor. 12:9
This verse shows and proves that even when you mess up God still uses you. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about this. I know God loves me I just don't understand it, but you don't have to understand everything. I just have to trust in God and believe he loves me the way I have been told he does. God will take care of the rest.
Love Always,
Jessica Chrisitna
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Sharing of Light
God has placed a piece of Himself and His light in each and every one of us. It is deliberate, beautiful, and intended for others to see.
Today I felt God's light not only glowing through me but I also saw it in the twinkling eyes of the babies and the spirited smiles of the disabled people that we visited. The most beautiful thing about it all was that neither myself or the people I was with were controlling this wonderful exchanging of Light; it was all God using each of us to touch the other in powerful ways at the exact same moment.
One particular baby was left on the side of the road by her mother and the caretakers said that she was the most traumatized baby there because of it. Then our guide handed her to me and as soon as I looked in her eyes all I could think was "You are so beautiful and you are a Child of God. Please know that." The amazing thing was that she was soon the center of attention! She was lively and friendly to everyone! I have no idea why she was so open to everyone but I like to think that it was God shining His light through everyone there that made her feel comfortable with all of us.
So I am thankful for all the experiences of today even though they sounded a little awkward and scary at first. I feel like it helped prepare me as well as the rest of the team for uncomfortable situations that will face us in Swaziland. It was a good practice to put myself out there because I will never regret something I did for God's people.
~Sarah Henry
PS - Parents if you would like to send a note of encouragement / greeting to your student - please do so by adding a comment. We would love to pass a word of greeting to your students!
Matt
Today I felt God's light not only glowing through me but I also saw it in the twinkling eyes of the babies and the spirited smiles of the disabled people that we visited. The most beautiful thing about it all was that neither myself or the people I was with were controlling this wonderful exchanging of Light; it was all God using each of us to touch the other in powerful ways at the exact same moment.
One particular baby was left on the side of the road by her mother and the caretakers said that she was the most traumatized baby there because of it. Then our guide handed her to me and as soon as I looked in her eyes all I could think was "You are so beautiful and you are a Child of God. Please know that." The amazing thing was that she was soon the center of attention! She was lively and friendly to everyone! I have no idea why she was so open to everyone but I like to think that it was God shining His light through everyone there that made her feel comfortable with all of us.
So I am thankful for all the experiences of today even though they sounded a little awkward and scary at first. I feel like it helped prepare me as well as the rest of the team for uncomfortable situations that will face us in Swaziland. It was a good practice to put myself out there because I will never regret something I did for God's people.
~Sarah Henry
PS - Parents if you would like to send a note of encouragement / greeting to your student - please do so by adding a comment. We would love to pass a word of greeting to your students!
Matt
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Doing vs. Being
Bleary eyes greeted me this morning at the 7am wake-up call, but everyone was soon out of bed and excited for our first day in South Africa. We spent our day touring and learning about Emthonjeni, a community center ministry serving a slum community in Johanesburg. Emthonjeni is a ministry extention of Mosaiek, which is Woodmen's sister chuch here in Joburg. As we left Emthonjeni, most of the team expressed excitement at knowing a lot more about what God is doing on the ground here, but at the same time, a feeling of disappointment at not being able to jump right into the ministry of Emthonjeni and, "do something."
For many of us, the idea of a mission trip conjures up ideas and images of us going somewhere to do something. We build houses, we feed the hungry, we keep ourselves busy and wear ourselves out doing God's work. But, this is, in many ways, going to be a different sort of trip. Much of our trip will involve just being. Being a part of what God is already doing here in Joburg and in Swaziland by connecting with the people, and opening ourselves up to God's movement and not necessarily our own.
Don't get me wrong, we're already tired and overwhelmed with many of the things that God has already shown us, but one of the things that has become apparent already is our inability to do anything at all without God's strength and power. And, our inability to just be without trusting that He is working and moving in ways we cannot see. As one of the trip leaders, I know this lesson is coming to me over and over again. I have felt God telling me to be present in each moment, and to stop worrying/thinking/planning for the days to come. He is in control and nothing takes Him by surprise. Because of this, I can trust that it is okay to gather in all that God has for me in that one specific moment, and not spend my time worrying about what He might have for me a few days from now. In the short amount of time we've been here, I am already learning that this trip will be a much different mission trip than any I've participated in or lead before, and because of that I don't want to miss a thing that God wants to show me!
Thank you for praying for me, and for our team. We are already learning and experiencing so much that has taken us out of our comfort zones, but God has been good to walk there with us. We are relying on his power, the same power that rose Christ from the dead and now lives in us! For those of you who will connect with a team member when we return home, please remember to ask us about the difference we learned between doing and being, and how we saw God work in and through us because of it. We are still in the early stages of experiencing this tension, but already it has changed the mindset of our entire team.
Blessings to all of you. Thank you for taking the journey with us.
-Jen Ferrell
For many of us, the idea of a mission trip conjures up ideas and images of us going somewhere to do something. We build houses, we feed the hungry, we keep ourselves busy and wear ourselves out doing God's work. But, this is, in many ways, going to be a different sort of trip. Much of our trip will involve just being. Being a part of what God is already doing here in Joburg and in Swaziland by connecting with the people, and opening ourselves up to God's movement and not necessarily our own.
Don't get me wrong, we're already tired and overwhelmed with many of the things that God has already shown us, but one of the things that has become apparent already is our inability to do anything at all without God's strength and power. And, our inability to just be without trusting that He is working and moving in ways we cannot see. As one of the trip leaders, I know this lesson is coming to me over and over again. I have felt God telling me to be present in each moment, and to stop worrying/thinking/planning for the days to come. He is in control and nothing takes Him by surprise. Because of this, I can trust that it is okay to gather in all that God has for me in that one specific moment, and not spend my time worrying about what He might have for me a few days from now. In the short amount of time we've been here, I am already learning that this trip will be a much different mission trip than any I've participated in or lead before, and because of that I don't want to miss a thing that God wants to show me!
Thank you for praying for me, and for our team. We are already learning and experiencing so much that has taken us out of our comfort zones, but God has been good to walk there with us. We are relying on his power, the same power that rose Christ from the dead and now lives in us! For those of you who will connect with a team member when we return home, please remember to ask us about the difference we learned between doing and being, and how we saw God work in and through us because of it. We are still in the early stages of experiencing this tension, but already it has changed the mindset of our entire team.
Blessings to all of you. Thank you for taking the journey with us.
-Jen Ferrell
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Here We Go
We arrived safely and without incident last night. The team did a great job on a what was a very long day of travel. All of our bags arrived and we made it to our lodging about 8:00pm local South Africa time (noon yesterday).
As I type this we are finishing up breakfast and excited for the day. We will be spending most of our day at the Emthonjeni Community Center. The community center is run by Mosaiek Church - WVC's sister church in South Africa. Emthonjeni serves a slum area called Zandspruit where about 70,000 people live in squatter camps. An interesting side note, on her visit to South Africa a few weeks ago Michelle Obama visited Emthonjeni to read to the school children.
Continue to pray for the team - for attitudes, safety, health,and to serve with humility and love as Christ loves us. Thank you for praying for us - we are blessed by you. We hope to have a student or two update the blog tonight with reflections on the day.
For the team,
Matt
As I type this we are finishing up breakfast and excited for the day. We will be spending most of our day at the Emthonjeni Community Center. The community center is run by Mosaiek Church - WVC's sister church in South Africa. Emthonjeni serves a slum area called Zandspruit where about 70,000 people live in squatter camps. An interesting side note, on her visit to South Africa a few weeks ago Michelle Obama visited Emthonjeni to read to the school children.
Continue to pray for the team - for attitudes, safety, health,and to serve with humility and love as Christ loves us. Thank you for praying for us - we are blessed by you. We hope to have a student or two update the blog tonight with reflections on the day.
For the team,
Matt
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