A lot has been going on since I last blogged! As all of you know im stationed in Johannesburg working with Impact Africa, but over the past week and a half we went on a ministry trip to Pietermaritzburg which is about an hour from Durban. We got the oppurtunity to stay in a prison! It was no longer an active prison but a little fun fact about that prison is that it was home to Nelson Mandela for a little bit of his sentence! It was super cool to think that I was walking the halls of a prison that one of the world’s most impactful leaders had once walked.
Our ministry while in Pietermaritzburg was very stretching. We were putting on school assemblys for hundreds of kids and also leading different church services. Doing 15 school assemblys and 3 church services total, our team of 15 had many oppurtunities to share the word, share their testimony, or share an experience. Lets just say we all had to jump out of our comfort zone when it came to public speaking! Sharing the word of God to hundreds of people is such an impactful thing. The holy spirit gives us exactly what he wants our audience to hear! Seeing people’s lives change right in front of my eyes was just as impactful for me as it was for them. One thing I love about the people of Africa is they are so open to what we have to say. They might not understand us all the time and the translating might be a little off but they always seem so interested and hungry for what we have!
About a week ago, my team and I decided to play man hunt at the prison we were staying at. For those of you who dont know what man hunt is, it is basically a huge game of hide and seek tag outdoors between two teams. Anyways, it was pitch black outside and I couldnt really see where I was running and i stepped off a ledge that I thought was a lot shorter and messed up my ankle pretty bad. Unfortunatly I wasnt able to participate in some of the ministry for a few days and im now in a brace for a couple of weeks.
One thing I’m taking away from this is pretty cool. God works in such crazy ways! I have been go go go the past couple of weeks and havent really been present. I’ve had trouble hearing from God as well. I feel like God is telling me by getting this sprained ankle that I need to slow down and spend time with him. Since I was forced to stay back a couple days of ministry I have had time to talk to God and dig into his word more and it has been EXACTLY what I needed. We worship such a cool God!
Hearing from God is pretty hard. Being an entitled American im so used to wanting something and wanting it right then. Having a relationship with the Father doesnt always work that way. Ive realized my whole life that I have been saying no to God. And the more we say no to him the harder it is to hear him. Hearing his voice is so reassuring! But its also hard when it comes so sporadically. Im so happy to hear from him but then days later its like I forget he ever spoke to me. Im challenging myself and my team to say yes to him. Sometimes its the hardest thing to do and also pretty uncomfortable but its so beneficial. The more we hear and know his voice the easier it is to have a relationship with him!
John 10:4 “When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”
John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
