Training

Since I am now back in full swing here in South Africa I wanted to let you know what I am doing. I am working back up in Red Hill again. As most of you know Red Hill is the township that I worked in last year.
Last year our focus was on rebuilding the houses and starting up small Bible studies. We were all new at it so we didn’t really know what we were doing. Now the focus has changed a little bit so I am getting used to it. Also the team has connected with a lot of new people so I am trying to catch up to where they are. I haven’t been up there a whole lot since I have been back but I already love it. I missed it more than I thought. Just seeing the people that I knew from before makes it so comforting being back. And it is always fun to meet more of the people that live there. Well, enough of what is new there let me tell you what we are doing up there.
We are still focused on starting small house churches just changing our emphasis a little. We are trying out this new thing for us called T4T or training for trainers. It is a few basic lessons to for us to teach the main commands of the Bible to people in Red Hill and it is easy enough so they can then pass it on to others. Our vision is to see the people we are working with now to take leadership and feel that they can lead their house church. We want to see them reach out to others and share the gospel then take in more disciples and train them to do what they are doing. Up until now we have always been kind of the leader in the house churches so we wanted to change that. If we pull out of Red Hill all of a sudden we have no idea if the people will take ownership and keep the Bible studies going on. I know that God would look after His children so I am not to worried. But the vision to go along with this training is to see house churches starting all over Africa that have been started by the people we are training now and by their disciples.
I got to see it kind of start the other day when I was up there. I was visiting a couple of guys and telling them about the training we are going to start. The one guy was excited to start and he was in a sense already looking for men to start a house church with. That was encouraging in itself but it got even better. His friend who was sitting there listening got interested in what we were doing as well. The guy on my team who could speak the language started talking to him and soon led him in a prayer to accept Jesus as his Savior. He too is now interested in the training so that he can share his story with his friends and family. It was so amazing to see his face change and to see the joy that came over him. I couldn’t have asked for a better day!. God has so many surprises in store for us.
That is what I live for and why I keep coming back here. I love to see people that are not living for anything come to the understanding that God has something special in store for them and take that into their lives and into the lives of the people all around them. Africa is in desperate need of Godly leaders and I feel very honored to be a part of seeing some them start stepping up to the plate!

The Beginning

I have arrived at my destination and just begun on my journey! In a way it was like coming home. The heat hit me like a wave and the beauty of the land took my breath away. It is midsummer and very hot. I sat out today for maybe half an hour and am already sun burned. I am sure that is a consolation to you all back at home in the cold;) The hills and the coastline have a beauty unlike anywhere else. I have no words to explain it now so I will send pictures sometime.
There are so many returning people from the Cpx school last year that it almost felt like a reunion. This entire week is spent with All Nations staff sharing our purpose and goals. Hence, we are a little more focused this time around. We have our places of ministry and some have launched the projects that have been on their heart.
I will be working once again in Red Hill. That small community that was burned down by the fire. It is green now and all of the houses have been painted. It is familiar which is nice but there are a lot of new faces thanks to the continued work there. The team there has been praying for another women to join their team (they are 5 guys and 1 girl). They have a growing number of ladies they reach out to so this is an answer to prayer for both them and myself. I have had it on my heart to start a discipleship group with women so this will be a good start.
I know that God has a great deal in store for me here. And I am excited for it even though I know that it won't come without hardship. Even in the first few days it was hard to see why I had come back and how to continue. But God is faithful and always sends confirmation. The more I walk around, talk with people, and see; the more I feel like this is one of my homes. This is where God has placed my heart for the time being. I love it!