Consume us, O Lord!

I pray all is well with each of you and I do apologize for not posting in so long! God is at work not only in the lives of the people in Africa but in mine as well. I continue to be taught and led into the throne room. I can’t begin to describe to you through this blog how awesome it is to be here. I feel so honored to be able to be on this continent. I have been thinking about a lot lately and the Lord takes me back to so many stories in the word about his unfailing love and how the plans he has for me are “good”(Jeremiah 29:11) and cannot be destroyed. I’m in awe of how the Lord speaks to me and how he loves me. We are involved now in many areas of ministry and are meeting new people daily and growing relationships that have already been built. Some of our newer ministries include prison ministry, Mamma Barbara’s and helping lead youth group on Friday nights for a local church!
I want to start by telling you about a man we met recently. Sammy lives in Sunny Side squatter camp and we met him while we were visiting some children we know. We started talking to him about the pin he was wearing on his shirt. It read “ZCC” which stands for Zionest Christian Church. I began asking Sammy questions about what his church believed and he started telling me about how much he knew about Jesus. He assumed that I was going to down his church and his beliefs. He began to speak out many verses and stories from the bible that he knew but my heart was overwhelmed for him because he is so confused and deceived. The Zionest church believes in Jesus but they also teach that it is okay to pray to your ancestors and visit the Witch Doctors for healings. We all know that there is ONLY one way to Heaven and that your ancestors are not the way to get there. We also know that we serve a healing God and that no witch doctor can heal. Sammy was trying to convince Leigh Ann and me that it was okay and asked if I had a grandparent die. I answered yes and he couldn’t believe that I didn’t pray to him for things. I told him that the dead is dead and we can’t get things through the dead. The Lord allowed us to speak truth in love over Sammy that day. I asked if we could pray for him and he wasn’t up for it at first. He just wanted us to write down some verses for him to read. We filled the page with some bible goodness and were getting ready to leave when he called us over and said it would be okay if we prayed for him. When we started praying the power of God fell and Sammy experienced what it was like for the Holy Spirit to enter in to a place. He was speechless but the Lord wasn’t done. We rebuked the lies and the deception and I believe the Lord has a mighty calling on Sammy’s life but I pray that he will let go and let God move in him. The enemy has many deceived by these beliefs and it is time to pray hard for an outpouring of the unashamed truth. It is time for the church to be resurrected all over the world. She is the bride and the Lord just wants to bride to be ready and perfect for her wedding day. We often times put on the dress and run down the aisle but there is more to it than that. The church is the beloved of Christ. He calls us His prized possession and the apple of His eye. How can we be the same after experiencing the power and love of Christ? I would dare say that it’s impossible.
We have been busy planning to start a bible study and prayer time for teenage girls we work with at Refilwe. They have been asking and searching for something like this and we are excited that we have this opportunity. We are looking to start next week so please be in prayer as to how the Lord wants it to look. Can’t wait to let you know what comes of this and how God moves.
We have also been going to see a lady who lives in Tembisa Township near our new house who is currently housing 29 children, many who are orphaned. She is raising them and is the only adult in the house right now. Many of the children are teenagers and all but 6 of the kids go to school. We have been several times to play with them and love on them but are just asking the Lord how we can be more invested in their lives. We know that discipleship is a need, especially for the older girls and Barbara but with most of them in school it is hard to start that process. We took one of the younger boys to the emergency room this week because of a viral infection he has that is causing open sours on his lips and also causing his eyes to ooze. The medicine he was on was not helping and we found out that it was because he was malnourished. He has not been able to eat because of the sores on his mouth. We praised the Lord for the news we heard and that it was not too serious. He is now taking some vitamins and has medicine to put on his mouth. My heart goes out to them because of the amount of people living under one roof and the number of people needing to be fed. The ages of the children are 2 months to 18 years. Several of the girls are there because they have been raped and now have children and had no place to go. Many of the children are orphaned and some just needed a safe environment to grow up in. We know that the Lord has placed Barbara where she is to help take in these children. Pray with us about how we are supposed to invest and disciple!
Leigh Ann and I will be leaving for Mozambique on November 20 and will return to South Africa on November 30. I will ask you to please be in prayer with us about finances for this trip and what the Lord has in store while we are there. We don’t want to miss anything he has planned out for us and the people! I am calling forth the healings, the salvations, the freedom and the joy! Our God is a consuming fire and I am pumped that we serve such a mighty God. I am full with what the Lord is going to do. As we pray over the next month and a half for this mission, please pray with us! Thanks for everything….the prayers, love and the encouragement!