prayer for the nations

The Lord has showed me this week that no matter what happens, he is still in control. Amen to that. We had three teams helping us lead camp this week. One team was from Texas, another was an awesome group of college students from Ashland University in Ohio and the third was two anointed ballerinas leading our dance rotation from a Christian Ballet troop. We were also blessed to have three local sisters helping us translate and lead small groups. What an awesome week of fellowship, leadership and growth for us all. I was amazed how we all came together to lead 500 kids and many unsaved translators into the presence of the Lord and gave them a glimpse of Kingdom living. Camp ran five days in Mamelodi Township with all the good stuff added to the excitement. Bible study and small groups were key aspects of course and also added to the mix were recreation games and dance. It was a blast to see those kids dancing for the Lord and playing, laughing and working together as a team on the rec field. We prayed the children in from the North, South, East and West. He definitely answered our prayers and we are so thankful He trusted us with so many of His precious children. In past years, there were about 350-400 kids throughout the week and this year we had 400 on the first day and 500 the second day. Honestly, I can’t describe how slightly overwhelming yet how beautiful it was to see all of those children there. The Lord provided more food, people to serve and hearts ready and willing to hear of this magnificent Jesus we serve. It was put like this by one of the Ashland people, “We have 500 opportunities to share the gospel”. We should think like this every day. Everyone the Lord allows to cross our path is an opportunity to share with them the love of our heavenly Father. The one’s who know him may just need to be reminded that He loves them and has a great plan for their life and that he is still there. Many of the children accepted Christ and had a life changing experience and we are beyond thankful to have been there to see it. The Lord asked to be glorified and lifted high and I believe He is well pleased. We will continue to pray for revival in Mamelodi and ask the Lord to pour out His spirit and heal the land.
We were also able to take 500 handmade hats to the camp children as well as the children at a preschool and orphan ministry that Mission Sebenzela partners with. One of the young people here with the Texas group left Africa last year with a heart heavy to do something for the people. She went home and has started an organization called “Shoes for Smiles” and collects new and used shoes to take to the people who need them the most. She brought 300 pairs with her and we saw many men, women and children smile as they received their new pair of shoes. I love the heart of this generation that is being raised up. My prayer for them is to seek the Lord, stand firm in him, and walk in what he has and the power of the Holy Spirit to flow freely from them. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:11
I must share my heart with you because I know that you will join me in prayer for the nations. My heart is heavy for the children and women in sex trafficking and the children who are being abused all over the world. I continue to pray for that demonic stronghold to break that has entangled the minds of men and women, taken them to the place of harming people, destroying lives and believing the lies of Satan. I have asked the Lord to strengthen my heart and I believe this demon will die in the name of Jesus. I want my heart to be beat in tune with God’s and be passionate to see the injustice in the world change. Enough is enough. This is not how the Lord intended it to be and so many times we allow it to continue. We must fight for the injustice and set the captives free. It has been way too long and too many have lost their lives. I rebuke Satan and his demons that are sent out to kill, steal and destroy. No more. The battle has already been won and our Lord holds the winning trophy. The church must rise up and take her place and stand her ground. I am confident the front line needs more fighters.
I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are JUST. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and JUST is he. Deuteronomy 32:3-4

I have been overwhelmed with joy at how much the Lord constantly reveals himself. There are times when I struggle with the depth of God’s love for his children and He reminds me that he loves us all the same….with the same depth, grace, might and length. Over the last few weeks of teams coming in and out I have seen more and more of the Lord being constant. We had one day of rest before the Tuscaloosa group came in and it was much needed. I caught some kind of bug for a few days but it was all good. The Lord sustained me through it and we had an absolutely amazing two weeks. It was fabulous and refreshing to have my friends from home here. I was excited to show them around and let them see why I have fallen in love with this place so much. We had twelve days packed with ministry, fun and lots of laughter. I know the Lord has blessed us with the joy of himself being all around us. We for sure felt HIS joy in the midst of us even in the moments of brokenness in the community and times where “why” was asked so many times because we couldn’t grasp the circumstance or the pain. The good thing was that we all got to process it together. I was blessed to have so many good friends around and given the opportunity to serve alongside them as well. We were laughing, crying, growing and being broken together. There are so many stories from their trip but I will only share a couple with you. We went into Sunnyside squatter camp twice and did home base care where we assessed the needs of the people and started skills training for them so they can get on their feet and begin looking for a job. The first week we went in we prayed for a lady who had a skin disease. I asked her if we could pray for healing and asked if she believed in Jesus and the power that He could heal her. She believed and had faith that He would. I just laid my hands on her and prayed a simple prayer of healing over her in the only name above every name….Jesus. She believed and I claimed that next time we saw her that she would be healed. We went back the next week and walked up and one of the first things she told us was the Lord had healed her. Her face was smooth and was not swollen anymore. Praise the Lord for answering so many prayers. He is worthy to be praised and exalted. I am going to need everyone to stop and shout “JESUS” on that one. Other people we had prayed for that day had also gotten jobs. I believe so deep in my spirit that revival is getting ready to break out and it is going to change this nation. The Lord gave me a vision of people getting healed and God revealing himself to them and they began dancing in the streets and proclaiming the goodness and power of the one true God. It was beautiful and I have seen it more than once. I will wait for it and even if I don’t see it with my own two eyes doesn’t mean it won’t happen. The Lord deserves to be lifted up, glorified and magnified. The spirit world is stirred up and the Lord is moving in on the power of darkness. It will diminish and burn up in the name of Jesus. We also visited a children’s home where orphaned kids and children on the streets have been brought in and loved, given a roof over their head and are fed. It was hard for me because of the circumstances that these kids live in. Some older girls were sleeping six to a room on top of taking care of infant children who were left there. There was a building that was originally supposed to be used as a chicken house that thirty boys were living in. The goats had been coming off the streets and were living and some dying in this building before the children lived there. It was not taken care of and the community stepped in to do what they could to house these children. The building wasn’t insulated and windows had recently been put in to help keep out the cold. The floor was dirt and many of the beds were pushed together to sleep as many that could fit. On one of the walls was written, “I love God”. I was broken for this place and in the middle of what I saw with my physical eyes, I saw the hope of that message on the wall was that they loved God and that was enough. Outside, was one shower that thirty people shared. It was a small room with a sheet as the door. Next to the shower was an abandoned shack that was dirty and full of trash. This was home to several children who were sneaking in off the streets late at night to sleep there and leaving early in the morning to get away before they were caught. There was one blanket for them and let me tell you that we have had some cold nights. I wept for these children. I asked for the heart of God but honestly, some days I don’t think I can handle it or even think I knew what I was asking for. He just keeps reminding me of the verses he showed me about the calling he has on my life. It is from Isaiah 61:1-3 and it reads, “The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…to comfort all who mourn…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called mighty oaks, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Prayer needs:
-We start our first kids camp June 29-July 3. Please pray for many lives to be changed, healings to take place and the power and love of God to reign in Mamalodi Township. We are expecting 400+ kids.
-Lies that have been spoken to die in the name of Jesus.
-An outpouring of the Holy Spirit
-Churches all over the world to come back to the heart of worship
-Rest

I have to apologize for taking so long to post a new blog. Things have been good but so crazy so I am a little behind on posting. Where do I start? Our second team has come and gone but left Africa with an impression on their hearts and some who were changed for life. Eighteen of them came from Chattanooga, TN and many of them had never been to the mission field before. The Lord took control and led them in and showed them how to love differently, have a heart full of faith and walk away with something different about them. The stories are numerous from the week but I will once again try my best to put it all into words. We started the week off with some very tired and jet-lagged folks but we went full on into ministry and the Lord was their strength for ministry and we prayed for rest over them at night. I was so glad to have some precious mom’s here from the states. There is nothing like having those women around that are motherly and just know how to take care of people in that way. We all served at Refilwe and in the community by doing home base care, where we assess the needs of people, their home situations, food and clothing needs and we also pray for them. Half of the team went out to the community and the others stayed to work on the grounds. I went out to the community both days and as always, the Lord never ceases to amaze me. I never see the same things or feel the same when I leave. I was with two sweet ladies from the team and a precious friend who was visiting from California. We went to Sunnyside squatter camp again where I met some sweet children that I have to go and see constantly because they have a piece of my heart. We went in ready to work and get our assessments done for the day but the Lord started moving in our hearts. This is a broken place but the Lord reminded me that HE comes to give life and piece back together what the enemy has shattered. It is the dry season right now but we joked and said this team brought the rain and cold with them. It makes it hard to go out and see people who are trying to stay warm in this weird weather. We did not allow it to stop us so we went out to do what we were called to do. We pray the Holy Spirit warms those little shacks and that miraculously there is food and anything else they need. He knows best. One mamma in the camp asked us to pray for her because she was staying up all night scared to death that her roof was going to blow off and that her house would blow down. Her fear was that she had to protect her baby if it did. She asked that we would pray that it would be secure and that someone could get out there to fix it. We prayed that she and her baby would be safe and that the winds would be calmed. Not only has it been cold but it has been raining constantly. The kind of rain that isn’t hard but annoying because it is all day and cold rain. We all looked like drowned rats but it was worth it all. We also met people who had no sufficient blanket for the cold and just wanted prayer for sickness and a job. I must offer up some praise to the Lord for answering prayers. He is teaching me that when prayer is spoken out with a heart full of faith that he is ready to answer and he did just that. Two weeks ago with our first team, a few of us were out in this squatter camp praying and the whole day we prayed for people to get jobs and for one lady to get her ID so she could start looking for work. When I saw our translator from that day he told me that God had been answering prayers. Several of the people had gotten jobs and the lady had gotten her Id. Amen. We also met a 100 year old Gogo (grandmother) who was still getting up and down with no help from squatting on the floor and was walking around. This woman was something to behold. I thought she was beautiful and couldn’t help but wonder about her long life and what she had been through and seen. She laughed with us and told us she was worried about us being out in the cold and rain but she was very happy that we were telling people about Jesus and praying for the sick. She blessed my heart so much. When I asked her if I could take her picture she asked where I was going to put it and then said yes if she could have a copy. She only spoke her native language and could not read or write. I don’t realize how much I take my education for granted until I meet many who don’t have one because they either couldn’t afford school or they are living on the streets, taking care of siblings or there just seemed to be no way. I keep thinking about that old saying, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” What truth that comes from that. I love that no matter our circumstance or where we are in life, the Lord is constant and loving and always there. He truly is our “refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1.
Blessings to you all!