Wow! It has been an anointed two weeks. The Lord is wrecking me for this nation, this continent, the people, the teams, and the whole nine yards. Our first team from the US arrived on May 16 and was here until May 23. One of the girls from the team was led to stay here for several days after her team left and the Lord is doing a mighty work in her life…not to mention what a great friend I have made. I’m very thankful for my brothers and sisters from Brandon, MS. They have been so awesome to serve alongside and it has blessed my heart to see the Lord doing much in them and what hearts they have for the people here. We’ve had a week packed with ministry, fun, laughter, tears, brokenness and an aching for more of what God is up to. We took the team to Refilwe Church on Sunday and what an amazing worship service we had. The team led us into an anointed time of worship and we danced and sang with the members of the church. The Lord had us interceding for different people who are lost. Afterwards, they got to experience a South African braii (Afrikaans for barbeque). We decided that we would all hike up the mountain and go to a place where you can climb up a viewing tower and see the beauty of the land and if you’re lucky, you might even get to see some zebras. It was a great time to spend with the team and be out in nature. Monday started our ministry week and we headed to Mamelodi Township where some 1.3 million people live. We went into the community and helped the ladies of the Baracka Mission serve the orphans and their caretakers. We split up into teams and went into the homes and assessed how the children were being treated, taken care of and so on. We also prayed with each family and left them with a small food parcel. It saddens me that many children are not in school because of the school fees and uniforms they have to wear. We see it a lot and I don’t think it should happen. I am praying for the Lord to provide for them all. The Lord was moving in mighty ways and we were thankful to be with the people and love on them through prayer and encouragement. We prayed over so many sick people and I kept asking the Lord to just be glorified. I know that He was and it was why we were there. We prayed with one lady who was suffering from epilepsy. She allowed us to pray for her and then the power of the Lord and the enemy does not mix so she started to be set free from the bondage of this sickness that held her captive. It was amazing to see the Lord at work. We also prayed over a precious granny who was dying from AIDS. She had to be carried out by three people and when we sat her down she just started clapping and praising the Lord. It was a powerful moment of seeing a true believer praise Him in the storm. She was dying and all she wanted to do was praise the Lord. It was truly something beautiful to behold. One of our last home visits for the day was this little girl name Basitsana. She was four and had contracted full blown AIDS from her mother. Both were dying and needed immediate medical care but there is very little in the community and little that can be done with AIDS patients. I just remember picking her up so we could lay hands on her to pray for healing and she just melted into my chest and laid her head on my shoulder. I just wept as I felt the power of the Holy Spirit take control and I could feel the heart of the Father for this child. She was dying. The Lord kept reminding me that when the enemy comes to take life and kill that HE is there to breathe life. There were lesions on her mouth and neck and she was so frail and tiny for her age. We prayed and loved on her for a long time and then as we were finishing up she lifted her head and gave us a smile. To me it was like a sigh of relief from pain or whatever was oppressing her. She had the most beautiful smile I can say I have ever seen. I will not forget her or her smile. I pray she is healed in the name of Jesus and I will be going back soon to check on her. Please pray with me for her healing. Tuesday and Wednesday we were at Refilwe where half of us worked on the grounds doing manual labor and the other half went out into the community to work with the Home Health Care Team. I stayed with the working team and the others went out on the field. Wednesday my half went out into the Sunny Side Squatter camp where we did assessments for people Refilwe is helping get on their feet. We met the most amazing kids and prayed with many people for healing, jobs and just simply the Lord to be lifted up in any situation. We were all blessed by Eva as she told us that no matter how bad it got that she would trust the Lord and not sell her body on the streets for money. We were blessed by her faithfulness in the Lord.
Thursday the team went into Matheong Primary School and led the children in assembly and they also taught in the classrooms. There were stories and questions from the fourth grade girls about abandoned babies being found on the streets and why that had to happen. These kids live in a world that makes them ask a lot of questions… although none of us can grasp the pain of some things that happen all over the world. We must put our faith in God. The kids at Matheong are amazing. They come from hard situations but love school, learning and the Lord. They are among the generation the Lord is raising up for his glory to be revealed in Africa. We spent the next two days with the team and went out on a safari drive and spent some time at the market where I learned how to play the drums. I very much enjoyed the team and the time we spent together and with the Lord. They left on Saturday and Leigh Ann stayed back in obedience to the Lord. We spent a day in ministry at Eskom squatter camp where darkness resides. We prayed for healing of the people and of the land. Many times we prayed the Lord revealed that revival would break out in South Africa. I can’t wait and hope I am here to see it with my own eyes. The Lord has anointed Leigh Ann and me to preach the gospel and heal the sick in HIS name. We prayed for the Lord to place people in our path and he did just that. We were out one afternoon getting a movie and we met a precious girl at the movie store who started telling us her testimony out of the blue. She is a believer and has been oppressed with epilepsy for years. She told us that she was waiting for a pastor from Nigeria to come to town so he could pray healing over her. We told her there was no need in waiting that the Lord could do it right then. We asked if we could pray for her and ask the Lord to heal her. She was excited and had faith that it could happen. We began to pray and the power of the Lord was present. She felt it; we felt it and anyone who would have walked in would have felt it. It was a sweet God moment. We then exchanged numbers and left. The next day we went back to see her and she was having an attack. We felt the enemy hard at work against what we had prayed. We pressed through with prayer and tried not to be discouraged. The Lord is mighty and the enemy was shaken. We went back once more the pray for her and declared healing in the name of Jesus and called out the demon for what it was. She is a light in her workplace and the Lord is using her to minister to others around her. The power of our Lord outweighs every attack of the enemy. Satan is a liar, a thief and a murderer….but our Lord is great in power and love and is just. I will continue to visit her and believe she will be healed. I have seen more sick people and dying people in the last days than ever before. I know that God is moving in and taking this country back. The darkness must flee. Please pray with me about this. Today, a few of us went into inner-city Johannesburg to visit MES ministry and see what God was doing there. They serve and love on hundreds and thousands of people in the city. They mostly serve the street kids, prostitutes, gangs, homeless, addicts, etc. We went all over the city and got a glimpse of what it looked like for them on a daily basis. We will be heading in to minister there in the next few weeks. Pray the Lord is seen and not us. I met some people today who have been changed because of one who said “yes” to the Lord. It is amazing to watch the Lord use people daily all over this place whether in the city or in the bush.
Overall, the last two weeks have been amazing and so full of what the Lord promised. I am praying and waiting on more and more for the upcoming weeks. Our next team will arrive on June 7 and then on June 14 a team from Tuscaloosa will be arriving. The excitement keeps growing! THANKS FOR THE CONTINUED PRAYERS!
Love you all.
Isaiah 61:1-3 and Psalm 127
Prayer Needs:
~School children who have limited funding to get there and stay in school
~Healing over this land and the people
~The enemy to flee
~Our teams coming and going from the states
~Our team here at Alabanza to have rest and to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in every situation

Amazing Love...

Hey there! Week two is in motion and I continue to see the Lord at work but also seeing the enemy busy as well. There have been some ups and downs but overall and most importantly, God is being glorified through it all. I don’t even know where to start to tell you all that is going on around Alabanza and out in the community. I will start by telling you that I got to experience my first African wedding and let me tell you it was intense….in good ways. It was during Sunday church service which was interesting and then after singing and dancing before the Lord we waited for the bride and groom to arrive. When they arrived, the bridesmaids literally danced up the aisles and then came the ring bearer and flower girl behind them. The whole church went crazy when the groom walked in and when the bride and her family came in, everyone in the place started dancing and shouting. It was the best thing I have seen in a long time and it was so much fun. Steve and I got tickled because the bride’s uncle who escorted her in went out during the wedding to take a call and after the vows were exchanged, the pastor called for the tithes and offering to be taken up for the church. I thought it was hilarious. It was sweet and so good to be a part of such a great occasion though. I decided that when I get married I want everyone to dance up the aisle as well. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Seriously, it was beautiful to see a body of believers dancing before the Lord and thanking Him for the marriage. We will all be attending another wedding in June and I can’t wait to see what that one will be like. Steve and I also attended Matheong Primary School this week. We will be taking teams in to do assemblies for the children, teach in the classrooms and it will be the location for one of our kid camps. It is great to serve in a place where they have a God-fearing principal who allows us to preach the word. The children love when we are there and the spirit of the Lord is very present. I look forward to our first assembly with the children and seeing what God has in store. I also got to do something I have waited to do since I have been back. I went to the squatter camp I ministered in while I was here in 2006. Mamma Janetti is the lady that I spent so much time with and our team helped her start a preschool. There are over 30 children that attend daily. The Lord is at work and using Mamma Janetti and those children to reach a lost community in Eskom squatter camp. When I saw Mamma Janetti at church she was excited to see that the Lord had brought me back after being away for so long. I told her I would be coming by to see the children and help her while I was here. As I was driving up the dirt road that leads you into the squatter camp, the Lord overwhelmed me with that same feeling I had the first time I went. I can’t get over how blessed I am in the states with all that we have and so little that these precious people have. I drove on the dusty, hole filled road and made my way through the rows and roads of shacks to Mamma Jannetti’s. It was so different. The Lord blessed her with a new room added on for the children. They now have a place to get out of the weather and shelves to put their tiny backpacks, crayons, paper, books, etc. I was so thrilled to see how the place had changed for the good. We praised the Lord for all he had provided. She also had a place to cook for them as well. They went from eating sandwiches to eating rice, beans, veggies, etc. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Amen. When I walked in I was greeted by thirty 3-5 year old children. Ha. Can you imagine the joy I felt? There were some familiar faces and many new ones. They welcomed me in and we connected immediately. We sang, laughed and I took tons of pictures. They love that camera! I listened to them recite Psalm 23 and other things they had been learning. It blessed my heart to sing some African worship songs with them. We came together and it wasn’t about black and white…it was about offering up the praises to Jesus. One of the children pointed to my eyes and said “green and white” and then pointed to her eyes and said “brown and white”. I thought about this and saw that she realized the differences but it didn’t matter. She and I were together. Loved the same. Loved by the same God, the same Heavenly Father. What a beautiful day it was indeed!
A few things to be in prayer about… The enemy has come to kill, steal and destroy but our Lord has come to give life in abundance. I hold onto to this passage because the enemy has nothing for us but to cause harm and stir things up. He has no idea whose children he is messing with. We are covered by a mighty God who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Since I stepped off the plane I could feel the heaviness of the enemy. I believe this territory will be taken back by God. We all know that the power of our risen Savior brings peace. So when the enemy brings junk to the table, we know how to fight. It started with the deception of one of our youth girls on into the fire that came in the fields to a team coming in to rest for a night before making a long journey to Zimbabwe. Thieves got onto our property and broke into their vehicles and stole clothes, laptops, cameras, etc. A sense of fear came over this place but we know we must stand strong in the Lord because He is fighting for us. Please be in prayer about this and our first team that will arrive around May 15. We are excited and ready to dive into ministry with all of our teams coming from the states. It is so awesome to experience them showing up to Africa expecting to bless the people and the people end up blessing them so much more.
I wanted to say thank you for everything. Know you are being prayed for as well. The Lord is present and moving. Stand firm in your faith!
“Look at the nations and watch---and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”
Habakkuk 1:5

His name is power, breath and living water....

Friends! Can you believe I have been in Africa almost a week now? Ahh. It is so amazing to be back. I’m sorry for just now getting a post up but we are trying to get internet at Alabanza and I have not had much internet access. It has been a great first week back in Africa seeing old friends and meeting new ones at Alabanza. These people I will be living with are incredible. I am so blessed. You will hear more about them later. I am excited about being here and seeing what the Lord has prepared. I just want to share a few things that have gone on this week. After recovering from the jet-lag, Steve and I have been talking and preparing for our first team to arrive the middle of May. We visited Refilwe, one of our ministry sites that have tugged my heart. Refilwe is home to over 50 youth and children who have been orphaned, abandoned or just taken out of bad home situations. They live, attend school and church there. The children live in homes where anywhere from 4-7 children live with a house mom and some even have house dads. This is a huge blessing because they are being taken care of and are seeing a mother and father figure in the home. I went there to see the youth that I met and grew close to the first nine months I was here in 2006. Every Friday night we had youth group for them where we ate, played games, worshipped and got into the word. We split up into pairs and mentored the students as well. My precious friend was Norah. As soon as I got to Refilwe yesterday she ran to me and we embraced. She is beautiful and has matured so much. She told me of her mother passing away and we talked for a moment about her life at Refilwe. She then took me on a tour of the things new to me and I had not seen yet. I enjoyed talking with her and catching up from 2 years ago. I am thankful for moments where I can see a glimpse of our Lord in the small things. Yesterday was a taste of what God has in store. He is mighty and moving. Also, I attended church on Sunday with Alabanza staff and about 15 amazing people from Zimbabwe. We danced and worshipped the Lord unashamed. It was as beautiful and powerful. I wish you could all experience the worship in Africa. I have waited to hear that sound again of a foreign tongue worshipping the same true God…not able to understand a single word but knowing in my heart and in my spirit that His name above every name is being lifted up. Every part of me is bubbling over with joy. I worshipped with my South African brothers and sisters on Monday night as well and the same thing happened. One song they sing in Affrikaans makes me stop and sit in awe. I know none of the words but I do know that it is a sweet aroma to His nose. God is being glorified all over the place. Satan is prowling around while our Father is still on His throne. We pray and wait for that mighty revival that is going to take place. The Lord is reminding me that people from every nation, tribe and tongue are praising Him and I am honored to be a part of it.

Today we fought off a brush fire in the fields by Alabanza. This is common but it can be scary because with dry brush and the wind picking up it can spread very quickly. It was awesome to watch everyone come together to get a job done. Some people were filling buckets with water, some pouring water on the ground to saturate it, some cutting the brush down with machetes. We were all working and all praying it would burn out before it got to us. Many praises went up because it never reached us. The Lord had His hand covering us and protecting us from harm. Hebrews 12:28-29 reads, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worshipping God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
~B

four more days...

With four days left in the states...my heart can't help but be overwhelmed by all of the goodness going on around me. My heart is swelling and it is all bitter-sweet. The feeling is almost the same as the first two times I flew to Africa...but this time it is deeper. The longing to be there for my toes to touch african soil again and see those friends and babies that I love so much. I know I will leaving friends and family here but knowing there are those awaiting our arrival in Africa. The Lord has revealed that much is in store...to believe....trust.... and be sensitive to HIS voice. I ask that you follow me along this journey and help me pray for those who have yet to hear of our Maker. Over the next few days I will be soaking up the love and encouragement of family and friends and also finding myself sitting at the feet of Jesus. I look forward to sharing with you all the Lord is doing and the stories of our journey. Blessings.
~B