Vineyards and Mountains

Last week we got to experience some of the sights here in Cape Town. Right down the street from us is a vineyard...actually we live close to many vineyards in Durbanville, but this one is "home of the Tygerburg Mountain Bike Club". Christian may be their newest member! Last week wasn't the best experience for him though, as he ended up getting a flat tire two rides in a row! However, for date night last Tuesday we walked through the vineyard where he bikes. I got to see the grapes before they are all harvested! It was beautiful- the vines, the grapes, the view of the mountains, and the sunset. Seeing the grapes on the vine, as well as the ones on the ground brought such life to the passage in John 15.  "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (Jn 15:5) Especially in seeing the grapes that had fallen and were all shriveled up. They couldn't survive without the vine. It made me wonder too, how do we die on the vine...is that possible? What does it look like when we grow weary. Christian has been feeling weary. It's not that he isn't seeing fruit- AMAZING things are happening! (I'll explain below) It's just feeling like full days of initiating conversations on campus, full speed when he gets home with the kids, and then a full plate of things that need to happen administratively at night. Pray for rest in his heart, mind, and body, and that we would remain in Christ!

We also went up the gondola and watched the sunset from Table Mountain. They were having a half price special in February if you go up after 5:30pm. It was BEAUTIFUL! It was beautiful when the sun first went down, but just kept getting better as time went on. A masterpiece of yellows, oranges and reds were painted in the sky as we looked out over all of Cape Town. Perfect!

Yesterday on campus (UWC) was AMAZING. Here's the scoop. Yolenda is one of our main student leaders. She loves Jesus and it flows out of her like a waterfall. She did an evangelism training at their prayer meeting at UWC last week because all of the women were wanting to learn how to share their faith. In fact, last week one of the girls (Aviwe) was PRAYING that God would send her someone to teach her how to share her faith. Lauren (staff) happened to text her and ask if she wanted to go sharing with her 5 minutes after she prayed that! The last time they met, Aviwe led the way to initiate with a girl that ended up accepting Christ! Two other girls from the training also went out last week and saw two girls accept Christ! Praise the Lord! Now, back to Yolenda...she and her friend felt led to walk up to this "intimidating" group of people, including a lesbian couple. They walked up and asked if they could pray for them. The whole group started mocking them. Yolenda and her friend just started praying together out loud. Then the group got quiet...and they joined hands in a circle and started listening and agreeing with their prayers. Yolenda sensed that the Lord wanted her to speak/pray into some of the areas the people in the group were struggling with, and as she did, one of the lesbian girls started nodding and agreeing ssying "Yes, Jesus!". Finally, Yolenda closed their time because she and her friend were going to their prayer meeting. Three of the girls from the group, including the lesbian couple, were so moved by their time that they came with Yolenda to the prayer meeting! Praise God! We haven't heard what has come of that time, but God is obviously doing a work! And that's not all! Yolenda had had a dream that Lawrence (one of the guys Christian's been working with in trying to start a men's movement at UWC) was going to say they'd like to join the women's prayer meeting on Mondays. She wrote "men and women meeting Monday- exalt the Lord" on the board just to remember to come back to talking about it. Christian was meeting with the student men at the same time, and then they walked over so Lawrence and the guys could meet Yolenda and the women leaders. They hadn't met yet. Lawrence walked in, and after Yolenda told the story of the group they had prayed for just before, he said "Before you say more, I just wanted to let you know that the men have been talking and we'd like to join you on Mondays to pray and then have our Bible study afterwards." The girls started jumping up and down in unbelief that this guy, Lawrence, whom they've never met, was there saying the exact words as it happened in Yolenda's dream! And it was even more exciting, because the women have been praying for Godly male leaders for a year...and now it's happening! Praise God!
I am just blown away...it just feels like the spiritual realm and reality is so much closer (for lack of a better word) here. Good and evil. I was processing this with one of my new South African friends, and she said maybe it's because there is so much need here. Poverty of body and spirit. Makes sense. I'm just blown away by Yolenda's passion and love for Christ, and boldness in proclaiming His love to others. She embodies what I think it means to be in step with the Spirit. She seeks, asks, listens and follows...and people respond because it's GOD doing the work! I am challenged, humbled, and excited to walk this way. I'm studying Acts in BSF, and I've been challenged and encouraged by Paul's example as well. I want to run the race to get the prize...not just to finish. I want to seek and take every opportunity the Lord gives me to tell others about the abundant life we have in Jesus. I'm going to UWC tomorrow to spend time with Lauren and talk to students about Christ. Christian initiates these conversations all day every day. Please pray for us- that we would seek, listen and follow the Spirit's lead. God is AWESOME! It's such a fun adventure to follow Him!
Oh!  And thank you for praying for Anya's eye.  We've been putting a warm compress on a few times a day, and the sty seems to be going away...keep praying!  Thank you!

Anya's Summer Birthday

It was beautiful summer weekend to celebrate Anya's 3rd Birthday!  It may be the only summer birthday she'll ever have in February (plus, we just love celebrating her), so we lived it up!  Friday night Welgemoed Primary School hosted a "Fun Day", which was kind of a mini Fair.  There were a couple of rides for little ones...airplane swings and a horse ride (like the ones at King Soopers that cost a penny only it goes around a whole sort of track).  The girls had a blast!  Though it was quite a different experience with these fair workers than the States.  I was looking to see which plane swing to put Anya in, and before I know it the worker took her out of my arms and carried her to the plane.  She didn't fuss.  She loved the ride (though she was a little tense because she was afraid her paper wrist band was going to fall off.  We got it on a little too loose, and she held it with her other hand the whole time).  I don't really know what we thought was going to happen when the ride was over...but in fact, the same worker picked her up out of the airplane and awkwardly carried her to the exit!  We were both laughed awkwardly, and from then on assertively allowed ourselves into the ring and lifted her into the ride ourselves.:)  They got to ride those rides over and over again because there was NO line!  And while waiting for one of the rides, I got to meet a couple of Afrikaans women whose sons are in the Grade R (Afrikaans class) at Lily's school.  They were so friendly and we swapped numbers.  I'm finding the people here to be very inclusive and friendly!
After the Fair we went to a wonderful family restaurant called "Spur"...I think I mentioned the one called "Mexico Spur" in a past blog because we thought it was a Mexican Restaurant.  We went to that one again for Valentines Day with the kids and they had free face painting!  Anyway, this one is called "Silver Spur", and the play place is like a dream.  They always have "child minders" so the kids can just play while we visit (we can see in the play place).  And there was a full size enclosed trampoline in there!  There's normally a bouncy castle and movie like "Cars" playing too.  We had a wonderful time with the Bests while the kids all played happily!

Saturday I made pancakes.  I thought all pancakes here were crepes, because that was the pre made mix I had been getting...labeled "pancake mix".  BUT, the other day I saw a mix for "flapjacks", and sure enough it's like American pancakes!  You just have to let it sit for 1/2 an hour after mixing it up.  Tasted great and Anya blew out her 3 candles from a pancake.  Then we headed to our favorite beach with the Williams.  We arrived around 10:30am and walked onto what felt like our own private beach....we were the only ones there!  It was awesome!  Beautiful weather and out of the way of the wind...perfect!  Everything went smoothly according to my vow from the previous time to this beach (when I had to hike a few blocks in bare feet on pavement to get to the bathroom with Anya, and then the only place I could find for lunch was this fancy restaurant where I entered in my swim suit, ordered fish and chips to go and declined their offer to sit and wait in their fancy leather couches)...I had vowed 1. Always to wear my flip flops when going to find the bathroom and 2. Bring a lunch!  It worked marvelously!  After the beach, we walked a block and paid to see the penguins on Boulders Beach.  Actually, we did see one penguin nesting  in some bushes up by the beach we were at.  That was neat!  Then we made sure we got some gelato at the quaint little patin stand this retired couple have set up in their back yard patio.  What a great way to retire! Anya had a wonderful day!  It's fun to have some new options of toys to play with too!

Today was the awaited birthday party at Stodel's (the place I wrote about a few weeks ago).  One thing against us was the heat (it was about 92 degrees here today)...but luckily most everything is in the shade, including our little birthday hut!   Stodel's decorated, provided food, slushes, ice cream and goodie bags for all the kids, as well as bags of food to feed the animals!  Everyone had a blast!  Instead of trying to find all the ingredients I need and bake in our little hot apartment, I opted for ordering cupcakes from a woman I met at the market who is just starting up a cupcake business. I basically just had to show up for the party, which was a PARTY!
Anya is 3! It's hard to believe! She brings so much joy and laughter to our lives! One prayer request is for her eye. She's had what we think is a stye on her eyelid for over a couple of weeks now. It started looking better, but then came back. Please pray that she'll allow us to put a warm compress on it a few times a day (she really doesn't like that), and that it will heal. Pray for wisdom if we need to go to a doctor or what to do. Thank you!

Lily's Spiritual Birthday

I ask Lily every day "What did you do at school today?".  Sometimes she'll tell me who she played with, but most of the time it remains a mystery.  Today was no different.  However, tonight at dinner she exclaimed "Guess what I did at school today?".  We eagerly responded...and she said "I asked Jesus into my heart!".  Wow!  Christian and I had been talking just before that about what God is doing on campus, so we asked her some probing questions to make sure she was telling the truth.  She told us she got finished with her "project" early, so she got to go outside before the other kids.  So it was then that she prayed.  Hmmm...well that's exciting!  Again, after dinner Christian talked to her more about what happened, and asked again if she was telling the truth.  She said yes!  And as I was giving her a bath, I asked about it again.  This time she said a "friend" from another class was outside too.  She's not much into talking to kids she doesn't know, let alone pray with them, so I asked if she was telling the truth.  This time she said "I'm sorry Mom, I'm lying."  Lying about the friend, or asking Jesus into your heart?  She said "Asking Jesus into my heart".  We had just talked about lying yesterday when she took some candy from her backpack, ate it, and still tried to hide it in her mouth when I asked her if she ate the candy without asking.  So, I referred back to why we don't lie.  She was sorry.  It was a bummer to lie about such an important decision!
So tonight before bed we read the kids version of the 4 Spiritual Laws booklet.  It really explains the gospel well and has neat little pictures to go along with it.  She's seen it before.  1. God Loves You!  2. Sin keeps us from God  3.  Jesus is God's only solution and 4. You must say YES to Jesus!  This time she seemed really engaged, as her lie was fresh in her mind.  She wanted to pray the prayer..."Lord Jesus, I need you and I want to have a relationship with you.  Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  I open the door of my life and accept you as my Savior and King.  Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me the gift of you being my perfect Friend her and in Heaven.  Please take control of my life and help me be the kind of person you want me to be.  Amen"  We talked more about what it means to have our sins "washed" away and Christian illustrated our sin by putting honey in her hand and then washing it away.
Tonight her prayer before bed was short and sweet...music to our ears and hearts.  She said "Thank you God for all the ways you saved us by your Son".  Praising God for His love- a gift offered to be accepted, opened and enjoyed...and the new life Lily has in Him!

"I don't have a category for this!"

Yesterday, we joined up with all the Staff in the Western Cape to do a special outreach to the "Bo Kaap"( a suburb of Cape Town, known for being a predominantly Muslim area)  We started our day in prayer for the people of the Bo Kaap, and for God to use us to show them how much He loves them.  We then were briefed on what to do if someone would confront us, yell at us, or destroy the materials we were handing out.  It was at that moment I thought, "I don't have a category for this in my head!"  We have done hundreds of outreaches, but never have we put ourselves into a position like this.   We would be handing out a DVD of the movie "Magdalena"to every home in the area.  This movie is very powerful as it is depicting Mary Magdalene from the Bible, her encounter with Jesus, and subsequently how He released her from shame.

We all drove into the city, praying as we went.  I (Christian) was in a group of four, and we all were from different backgrounds. Rose - an african american woman from Washington D.C. who works for CCC, Elise - an Affrikaans woman in her 50's, and Charles - a man in his 40's that was in maximum security prison here in South Africa and met Jesus 12 years ago, and has never been the same.

Our group began walking up the steep streets of the Bo Kaap. Things were going along well. We had a few conversations, and just when we thought we were getting the hang of how this is to work the road turned.  We checked our map and it said to follow it up the hill, so we did.  Before long there were no houses along this road. It is really hard to go "door to door," when there are no doors.  We asked someone if we were in the right area, and they said no but you could get there by just walking through this open area. We would call it a greenbelt in the USA.  As we are walking through this area we see a "squatters camp," basically a ramshackle camp for homeless people that they have put together from whatever they could find.

Rose, then says let's talk to them. So we walk into their camp and begin talking to them, and then Charles begins telling this small group of 3 men what Jesus did in his life.  The men go from being rowdy to somber, and you can see that his story is resonating with them.  He told them, "you can know this Jesus too and He loves you."  He then says something in Afrikaans, and the next thing I know they are praying asking Jesus to come into their lives and to make them the people that He wants them to be.  I am shocked and begin talking to one of the men about what just happened in his life.  I find out that he can read and so we look at a booklet that we have, "The Four Spiritual Laws." I am reading aloud the verses about God's love, who we are, and how we need Jesus to come to God. He is understanding and they look at us with warm smiles and many "thank you's."

At the same time, Elise, was praying for an older woman in this group.  Elise, tells this woman about Jesus and she gives her life to Him...and then immediately says my friend needs to know about this and then they share it with her.  The "squatters camp," was an amazing chance to watch God bring His love to people that were forgotten. They don't have a lot by material standards, but they do have new life.  Altogether, there were 6 people that began a relationship with Jesus in the "squatters camp."  We got back on the main road, and then began to hand out DVD's.  I was so amazed and shocked by this that I said to the group, "I don't have any category in my head for what just happened." Then Rose said, "God showed up!"

I don't have a category for God!  He is so much better and bigger than what I want to think.  He brings people from all walks of life together so that all the world would know that He loves them. One of the verses that I read to the men was Romans 5:8, " but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Altogether 13 people began a relationship with Jesus yesterday, and there are people with the CCC here that will follow up on their decisions and help them grow in Jesus. Thanks for all your prayers!

University of Western Cape

Last weekend we had our team briefing, and we hit the ground running this week on campus!  Christian's main university will be the University of Western Cape.  The team went on their campus on Tuesday (the 2nd day of school) and they got to meet some student leaders and share their faith.  Christian said the campus is the most "lively" campus he's ever been on...one of the most popular things is to play dominos.  They throw the dominos down on the table as if they were cards!  And one of the student organizations were rioting.  Anyway, Tyler and Erik got into a conversation with a guy just by saying "Have you ever heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?" and after sharing them with them, the guy ended up inviting Christ into his life!   Praise the Lord!  And Christian was so excited about the 3 student leaders that are there- they are SO on fire for the Lord!  And they came today to our "New Life Training Curriculum" training day today! It is a basic training course on evangelism and the Holy Spirit that we are doing today and tomorrow.  Our Port Elizabeth Stint team, Cape Town associate staff and stint team, and 5 student leaders were in attendance.  Christian taught on how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I trained on how to share the four spiritual laws.  Honestly, it was a little stressful to prepare our lessons, as the curriculum is new to us (old to Crusade), and because we were both needing the computer, and we don't have a printer.  BUT, God showed up and it turned out to be an encouraging time.
However, the stress continued as I GOT LOST driving myself home!  It was supposed to be an easy route...but somehow I missed my turn and ended up in an unfamiliar area, which led me to the highway!  I still haven't driven on the highway...and not knowing where I was wasn't a good way to start!  I had the GPS, but it wasn't finding where I was either, and then it lost reception.  So of course I was praying...and on the verge of tears.  Finally, the GPS got itself together, and led me home...praise the Lord!  Seriously!  I thought it was ironic how we'd just been talking in our training about our need to depend on the Holy Spirit...just as I was completely dependent on the GPS for guidance.  Now, the analogy breaks down in many ways...because the Holy Spirit will always work!:)
We had a wonderful weekend at the beach at "The Lord's Team House" for our briefing!  We all got to sleep in bunk beds...took me back to the days in the sleeping dorm in the sorority and camp at Kanakuk:).  Highlights:  view of the beach, AMAZING food (bought the chef's cook book), the beach, encouraging time in the Word and with the Eastern Cape Stint team, vision and direction, and beautiful weather!  I'm still confused on the month...it feels like it should be August since school is starting and it's warm.  Normally, Lily's birthday is right after school starts in the fall...but here, Anya's birthday is after school starts...almost in fall.  Crazy!  But fun!
Please pray for us on Saturday.  We are doing an outreach to Muslims in the Western Cape.  Pray for the Spirit's discernment and leading, and that many will see Jesus in dreams and visions and be open to receiving the DVD's we are giving.
So thankful for your prayers!  I'll bet they are how I found my way home today!