Hello!

Hello there!! Here’s the latest update from our Nomad team. We are wrapping up our stay here in Jozini and moving on to our next location tomorrow morning bright and early. We will still be staying in the KZN province, but heading south to Loskop (near Estcourt). We will be working with an HIV/AIDS orphan care ministry called Agathos Foundation. I’m really excited, I think it will be an awesome week. Vanessa’s small group back home actually sponsors this ministry, so it will be really cool for her to be there and see it in action. We will be in Loskop for one week and then finally head back to the farm!

Our team is safe, healthy, and excited for an awesome week at Agathos, so stay posted!

Moving Eve {Sunday, March 29}

Wow, what an experience today was. My sermon this morning went well! I was very thankful the translator seemed to understand English well enough to convey what I was saying (not always the case). I even got my own pulpit (that I could barely see over) which turned out to be a huge blessing when, mid-sermon, my dress blew up to my stomach. Thankfully the pulpit was so big no one but me realized what happened. Whew, almost made a new most embarrassing moment there!!

After my message we had more worship, communion, one of our BoH dramas, offering followed by the offering revival- as I call it, worship, then the head pastor gave a final word of thanks. During this time I sensed all Zulu-speaking people turning to look at me, while the guy next to me nudges me, “sister, you must give the closing.” So I start to go back up to the pulpit while everyone continues singing … having no idea what a closing is in this church… And remembering that this sometimes means a second sermon. I lean over to the head pastor’s assistant up front and whisper, “would you like me to pray?” To which he responds, “No, bless.” Umm… “Okay, maybe I can pray?” He looks at me with seriousness as if I am understanding what he is wanting, “Close, please.” Fabulous. I’m glad we’re communicating clearly. I’m thinking do I try my Pastor Rick’s benediction or recap my sermon or …. Oh man, I don’t know. So I kind of did a little of everything and prayed. I love when I have no idea what’s going on.

After church we got a VERY special treat… Actually, we have been looking forward to it all week… KFC!! I can honestly say I have never been so excited for KFC in my life. I miss good chicken, and who knew KFC makes the best chocolate caramel avalanche sunday you have ever had??

An Outline… from my Message

Most of my message was focused around what I mentioned in my blog yesterday.

Hebrews 11:6-16 ~ Three things about Noah and Abraham
1. By Faith
-trusted God would do what He said
-being sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they did not see (v.1)
2. Obedience
-received God’s calling in faith and followed through in obedience…despite the risk and sacrifice involved
3. Living for a Heavenly Kingdom
-content with being different (v. 13) … a life lived for God will often be counter-cultural
-they were focused on God’s Kingdom, not their own, otherwise they would have backed out (v. 15)

Jeremiah 29:13 ~ Seeking God with all Your Heart, what does it mean?
1. A close relationship with God
-spending time with Him
-giving Him the opportunity to lead
2. Walking in faith
-God often gives us one step at a time
-we will not always see the end result of our faith (v. 13)
-willing to risk and sacrifice
3. Resolve to be different
-citizens of a heavenly kingdom; foreigners on earth

I know it is just bullet points, and these are just some of my thoughts. Hopefully you can spend time looking over these Scriptures yourself. There is a lot to be learned in these passages.

…When you seek me with all of your heart… {Saturday, March 28}

I’m increasingly more thankful for the opportunity to spend 3 months here in Africa. Being here for 3 months gives the opportunity for day-to-day life to sink in. I haven’t been blogging as much this week, partially because of being hot, but also just sensing God stirring things in my heart. One verse has been on my mind a lot this week- Jeremiah 29:13. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” I love this verse because it keys in on the personal element of a relationship with God. The fact that God can be found by us when we seek Him with all of our heart means He desires to be close with us. I love that. I’ve been spending time studying places in Scripture that talk about seeking God… What does it mean to seek God with all of my heart? How do I do that?

As I was searching Scripture, I came across Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I love Hebrews 11. It reminds us of so many lives lived in faith. I was excited to re-stumble upon it… It was actually a passage that I studied quite a bit as I made the decision to come to South Africa. You should read it when you get a chance.

Tomorrow we are going to a local Zulu church where we’ve been asked to give a message. Our leaders Vanessa and Ryan usually give the sermons in these situations, but I offered to speak instead… partially because they’re awesome and totally need a break and partially because I’ve been a lot more introspective lately and feel like God wants me to share these things that have been on my heart. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to share yet, so I will keep you posted on my first sermon! ;)

Move Along {Friday, March 27}

This week has probably been the most draining for our team. Jozini is lovely, but not our favorite place so far. To be blunt, there’s a lot of bugs and it’s really really hot. Sometimes I think about dragging my mattress outside to sleep at night where I think I would feel cleaner and cooler. Haha, ok there. I said it. That’s all I’m going to say on that end, but it has been a more difficult week. Please pray for our energy and endurance as we’re hitting the mid-way point exhaustion. We’re all doing just fine, and we’re making the most of Jozini. But I don’t think anyone will be crying when we leave on Sunday. ;)

School Visits {Thursday, March 26}

Today we visited two schools. The first school this morning was huge. It was R-12 and had about 2000 students. They wanted us to go classroom to classroom, but because we had another school appointment we were not able to do so. Some of the presentations were frustrating because it was almost impossible to be heard with the amount of people and the setup of the area. In total we ended up doing six presentations there. Afterwards we were invited back to the Principal’s Office (the first air-conditioned room I’ve been in since maybe Hazyview??) where we were served “cool drinks” (juice and soda) and MUFFINS. I don’t know why, but I realized how much I missed muffins and was deeply grateful for this special treat.

The next school was much smaller but in a more remote location. We got lost on the way there (red dirt road suddenly ended) and had to stop multiple times so Thabani could ask random Zulu people where the “tar road” was. It was definitely interesting.

Only in Africa {Wednesday, March 25}

Only in Africa do you wake up to a random Zulu guy raking your front yard leaves in his boxers. That’s all.