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